When Mensik was broken in the opening match by Mpetshi Perricard it looked as though we would be in store for a tight three set contest. Mensik had other ideas as he won 12 of the final 16 games of the match against one of the most dominant servers on tour. His returns were coming out of the middle of the racquet and he was crushing backhands down the line – a great sign for the 20 year old moving forward. Marozsan needed three sets to get past Spizzirri but the biggest concern for him is a straight sets loss to Mensik in their only prior meeting last year. If Mensik can play anywhere near as well as he did against Mpetshi Perricard, this one will be over in less than an hour.
Have the bookies not been watching Baez play this week??? We took him with the start and for the outright win against Shelton and he delivered in style. Now he has been installed as the outsider against another American and you will not have to guess twice to predict our bets for the match. What makes it even more puzzling is that Baez leads the H2H 2-0 which includes a win over Giron on hard courts in Cincinnati in 2024. Baez with the start and for the outright win.