De Minaur's nemesis.

It's pretty crazy, but Halys always somehow manages to cause him problems. Even though he lost their last meeting, he was very close to taking the head-to-head to 3–0 in his favor.

Each of their three meetings has ended in a decisive tie-break. That statistic is still pretty crazy and really reflects the battle they put each other through every time. Halys manages to stay in touch on the scoreboard thanks to the quality of his serve, and in open play he’s also someone very tenacious, both in terms of tennis and mentality. That might be what makes the biggest difference in this matchup, because De Minaur is lacking confidence and has lost a lot of tight matches this season.

I really liked Halys’ first-round match, where he already had to face a defensive profile, but the Frenchman handled it perfectly, even if he did scare himself a bit at the end. Sure, Buse was tired and not at his best, but with a bit more ruthlessness it could have been 6–1, 6–2 for Halys, which is very impressive. He’s had his rest day and should be competitive tomorrow, ready to cause De Minaur problems once again.

It wasn’t an easy first round for De Minaur, who faced yet another very tenacious opponent who’s hard to beat. The Australian was also under scrutiny after playing in the Laver Cup and the Davis Cup. He’s one of those who came through it the best, when you look at the wave of injuries and withdrawals. I won’t forget that he saved a set point in the first set, but I have to give him credit because his match was really good. Unlike other players, I didn’t find him tired. He even served pretty well and I liked his attitude.

The issue is that it’s a bit emblematic of his season. The level is sometimes quite good, he can get ahead in matches, but he’s never far from losing his mental grip and getting dragged into a real trap match. Even though his level of play convinced me, I still feel he’s not calm and dominant in his game. If Halys serves well and produces a strong performance from the baseline, he should once again have his chances.