Bu is playing with his heart.

The Chinese player delivered a superb performance against Majchrzak today and will take on Safiullin tomorrow.

High-level match won by the Chinese player today against Majchzrak. He was a bit clutch in the first part, then missed a match point in the second set before really bouncing back strongly in the third and final set. He played with his heart and a lot of courage to save and hang on in the big points. He also managed to give himself another boost in the third set, at a time when his opponent was much more flat and affected. I’m just going to be a bit wary physically about the back-to-back matches for Bu, who isn’t a beast in that area and just spent a lot of energy today as well. His advantage is that he’s facing an opponent who took an MTO for a thigh issue, so he should be slightly favored on that front.

Safiullin won a match that I found average in terms of quality against Halys. It’s hard to exist on return against the Frenchman when he’s serving this well and is that inspired on his service games, but Safiullin wasn’t very willing or combative in several games. That was pretty obvious in the last set. At first I had the impression he was a bit burnt out, then he took an MTO for an issue around the upper thigh or quadriceps, I’m not sure of the exact area. He was clearly in energy-management mode in the last games, and I’m wondering what state he’ll be in tomorrow. If it’s just fatigue, then Bu will have a real shot, and if it’s an injury, it’ll be even tougher for Safiullin to start again from cold. In other words, it’s very interesting information and it will obviously determine the angle of this bet.

This will be the first meeting between the two and a great opportunity for each of them to reach the semi-finals. I’m leaning more toward the Chinese player in terms of the match-up, if he keeps the same aggressiveness he showed against Majzrak today. Forcing Safiullin to defend is a good advantage. The Russian prefers to dictate play from his baseline, and when he has to move at the back of the court, I find that he gives up quite quickly.