The more matches Andy gets before RG, however scrappy, the luckier he will get at the Grand Slam itself. More data for the Lendl team to look at, more strategies that work or don't work to tinker with, more time on the devil dust to get comfortable, and more confidence from winning matches. My observation is that he has retrenched into his passive mode once again, but this may be a natural byproduct of his initial lack of comfort on clay, which will improve with every day.

He will get better, of course, whether it will be enough to be a contender at RG I doubt very much. Nadal looks a different class, Stan is a revelation, and Novak still has several gears to shift up. Very poor from Fed. However brilliant he is, 2 months off against top players is a lot.......except for Rafa.