Rune, already the favorite?

Whether we like him or not, I think the Dane has been missed on the tour. Can he already beat a Frenchman who's on fire?

Beating Dimitrov for his return to competition, it’s true that it looks pretty good. But which version of Dimitrov did he beat? I’m afraid it was the one from the smaller tournaments... Still, it’s a good level from Rune, an impressive physical resistance, and a match won at the wire that does a lot of good for his mindset.

Today, he’s facing a Frenchman in form, since he’s just played the tournament of his life in Hangzhou, reaching his first semi-final at that level, breaking into the top 100, and getting his first win over a top‑30 player. On the other hand, Hangzhou can wear players down with its humidity. And even if Rublev was well above Kyrian in the second set, you could clearly see that the Frenchman was cooked, because he was a bit late on every ball and all his metrics were dropping. That said, his level in that tournament was simply really good, better than the current Dimitrov. Very aggressive, good quality of serve, good movement...

My hypothesis here in terms of the match-up is that Rune will manage more and more to counter the Frenchman’s firepower as the match goes on. The Dane generally does a good job neutralizing power. However, we still have a match under close physical watch, and not only on Jacquet’s side...