Tennis Prediction Botic van de Zandschulp vs Joao Fonseca: Cincinnati

🇺🇸 #Cincinnati

• 10 months ago, in Brussels, Botic van de Zandschulp did not drop a set against Joao Fonseca. He took the match: 7-5 7-6(2). And when the Brazilian had won their first Davis Cup duel, we had the right to a great battle 6-4 7-6(3). Four sets played between them, four tight sets, zero one-sided sets.

• The Dutchman is going through his best period of the season on hard courts. In Montreal, he eliminated Mpetshi Perricard, Medvedev then Hurkacz, three variations of the same problem: a big serve. This is precisely his specialty, he returns better than he serves, and this is the profile that is sent against a 19-year-old serve-and-volley player.

• On Friday, he settled Shevchenko 6-4 6-4 to enter the draw, 82% of points won behind his first serve. The machine is running.

• Fonseca remains the better player of the two, I won't pretend otherwise. If he plays like against Ruud and Tsitsipas in Montreal, he can lock this match with his serve. This is the scenario that loses the ticket, and it exists.

• But we don't ask Botic to win. We ask him a set out of three, in a duel where all the sets in their history have been played to nothing.