It is a nice forehand when it's on song. He's got serious topspin, too, which may not take as much, in these conditions. But he's a solid baseliner, with real net game. And a really good 2nd serve. There's a lot of water under the bridge for Sock, but it's nice to see him still around. I don't expect him to win, but I'm going to guess that Dominic will be wishing he'd had Opelka.
That's the thing, everybody is still trying to figure out whose playing style is favored in these conditions but NOBODY really knows. From what I've seen so far, players of all stripes seem to do OK, and as usual, the mental fortitude seems the biggest factor, ATBE. I mean, clay court tennis in Paris in the fall with the temperature dropping dramatically at times...we don't have a track record.. All things being equal a heavy topspin still helps on a red clay surface. As far as hitting through the ball, then you have to figure conditioning, etc.
Again, many are HOPING/PRAYING it doesn't favor certain players....
But geeze , it's still red clay tennis. It didn't suddenly morph into indoor the ATP YE Finals court in London.
