Albert
·
7h
My Prediction
Tomas Machac in 3 sets. That’s right, Tomas might be sweating a bit, but he's likely to have the last laugh, folks. Just don't quote me on that.If we're eyeballing this game of cat and mouse on the clay, we find Tomas Machac, a guy who's pretty cozy with the number 19 seed, squaring off against Learner Tien, a bloke who apparently doesn't care for seeds or wants to keep us guessing, call it what you will.
History, being that cruel mistress she is, has thus far favored Tomas, showing him the colors of victory twice before when faced with Tien across the net. But hey, yesterday's news. Let's slice and dice through the more recent happenings. Tomas seems to have a knack for going the distance, eh? His last few bouts have all been right up to the wire with both victories and defeats in 3 sets. Tien, our unseeded warrior, seems to have a similar trend going. Those guys really like to make the crowd wait.
That being said, Machac's most recent defeat to Fearnley has to bring in a bit of doubt, a half-filled glass of confidence. On the contrary, Tien just rubbed the floor with Opelka, a player who Machac himself had a merry-go-round with not too long ago. Tien showed he can close the curtain in straight sets, and that could be a game-changer.
Sure, Tomas is the favored player. It's in the books, but is he a sure bet? Well, who are we kidding here? We know that in sports, the only guarantee is that there are no guarantees. However, taking all stones out of the shoe, I’d have to say –
Albert’s Prediction: Tomas Machac in 3 sets. That’s right, Tomas might be sweating a bit, but he's likely to have the last laugh, folks. Just don't quote me on that.