Arnaldi in straight sets.
If we glide our eyes over the ol' history books, we see that Matteo Arnaldi delivered a trouncing to Zachary Svajda, coming up love in their last outing. Inflicting an unmistakable, sobering "three sets to love" on his adversary. On this front, it's quite clear where the pendulum of favor swings.
Now let's not forget that Svajda is unseeded in this tourney. And yet, he's been showing some level of grit lately, deciding to take a few matches home while he's at it. And, let's hold our hats here, those victories were not gifts, folks. But over on Arnaldi's side of the fence, decorated as a 29th seed, he's coming off a few scrapes that he'd rather forget. I guess tennis can be a fickle friend.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Arnaldi is still favored, and for good reason. He's earned that 29th seed. And, yes, he's fallen off the tightrope a couple times recently, but let's not neglect the fact he still managed to swat away Svajda with no set losses. Seems in this matchup Svajda tends to whiff on those return shots.
My tired old crystal ball is predicting an encore performance. So, ladies and gentlemen, drum roll please...
Albert’s Prediction: Arnaldi in straight sets.