What if it were Kyrian’s year this time?

Royer reached the final last year with aggressive tennis, and Jacquet is quietly starting to head in the same direction.

The road is still long for Jacquet, but he’s into the quarterfinals after two excellent wins over solid players, often with a very high level of play. Just like against Vukic, I felt the Frenchman played a great match, but his opponent’s level just wasn’t there. Echeverry disappointed me, but I don’t want to take anything away from Jacquet, who’s playing very well and also adapting to the profile he has in front of him. We saw him try a lot of drop shots, and he later said it was a tactic because Echeverry plays very far behind the baseline. You can clearly feel there’s a bit of Stéphane Robert’s touch in the coaching; I also find him much calmer and more composed in his game. Now that he’s at this stage, he has a real opportunity, and I don’t get the impression that he’s overplaying or getting carried away by his emotions. He looks confident and self-assured, which I particularly like.

Marozsan’s tournament has been a bit less dazzling, but the Hungarian is also getting the job done. And given the conditions, he has some strong arguments, even if I found him quite tired at the end of his match against Daniel. With the Davis Cup and a later arrival than Jacquet, for example, I’m not sure he’ll be the one finishing the strongest if the match ends up being a long one. On the other hand, in terms of game style, he can do a lot of damage with his aggressiveness. He served very well in the previous round and just lacked a bit of ruthlessness to really hurt Daniel on the scoreboard, but the performance itself was good.

This is a first meeting between two players who both want to dictate play. I’m obviously wary of Marozsan, but I have to admit that Jacquet really makes you want to be on his side. He’s returning very well this week, which could make the difference if he manages to neutralize Marozsan’s first serves a bit. I also think the Frenchman has the weapons to hurt him from the baseline, whether through his aggressive style or with drop shots. The Frenchman is a lot more complete, and even if his average level of play is generally lower than Marozsan’s, it really looks like this week, he might be the one to come out on top.