Lucky loser = danger?

When it comes to a player of Faria’s quality, then yes!

I wasn’t able to see his last qualifying match where he had two match points against Vallejo, but I know he (again) struggled physically. He must have played very aggressive tennis because he was less in the rallies and already a bit tired. Let me remind you that he was already not feeling great in his match against Gaston at the previous tournament after having battled hard the day before in a big match against Atmane (Hangzhou is played in fairly humid conditions). Besides this very annoying physical side, his level is really something. Will one day of rest be enough for him?

As for Fery, he has travelled a lot between the Davis Cup and the Laver Cup, but he only played one match. Either he’s a bit worn out, or he’s really eager to get stuck into official competition. Before that, he was coming back from his Wimbledon run with a very good level in Winston-Salem, but was unfortunately punished by a bad match-up at the US Open against Musetti. Musetti, Buse, De Minaur, Zverev... those are his last 4 losses and they’re anything but a coincidence: if the guy on the other side is too relentless, he gets muddled in attack and can’t get it done.

Today, it’s different. He’s the one who will probably have to counter the aggressiveness and power of a Portuguese player who knows he has no choice but to spend as little time as possible on court if he wants to advance.