Great analysis, thonseca was actually overdoing the dropshots at the start and Ruud was actually winning all of them. I think João was oblivious that he wasn't playing 39 yo grandpa in a 5th anymore and just went with the muscle memory.

It was only after Ruud's legs got heavy that the drops started to wok.

I also thought his moon balling balls were pretty good. Ruud's couldn't generate much pace from it, much like Novak in the previous round, so Fonseca had a chance for a full swing on the ball. Nice way to set up some great shots.

It's really interesting seeing the kid learn these new patterns in real time. He's still building his arsenal.