Three hours of match play and twists and turns?

Two players I really respect who never give up—this could last a while, just like their encounter last year in Shanghai.

Bu had won 3 sets to 0 by showing huge ruthlessness, but without being dominant in his level of play. The Chinese player has found some strong form again at this end of the season and comes in confident after a good tournament in Hangzhou with two wins and then a very heavy loss against an unbeatable Safiulin. You can praise Bu’s fighting spirit: he has an impeccable mentality and even when things get tough, he keeps encouraging himself and trying to find solutions. His game is a bit streaky, and sometimes I find him a bit limited against certain players, but you can count on him to play with his heart in another home tournament.

Cerundolo is also a fighter, but in a very different style. Every week I praise him because his progress is impressive, and when I see that he is currently 53rd in the world, I tell myself it’s absolutely not undeserved and fully earned given the season he’s having. You just have to look at his losses over the past few months to understand that most of the time he’s living up to his ranking. There are very few defeats that really look bad. He also played a decent tournament in Chengdu, but wasn’t lucky to run into Fokina so early. I didn’t even think he was bad in that loss. The Argentine has really improved on faster surfaces, and I think that if last year he was already managing to put up a fight with a game that was far less complete and less suited to hard courts, this season he might well be able to tip the balance in his favor.

I still quite like the match-up for Cerundolo, because he has that mix of solidity from the baseline combined now with sharper offensive weapons and a well-established quality of serve. I’m not writing Bu off though, because he’s coming back strong as well. This match has all the makings of a great one.