Mark Lajal and Y. Bu meet in the semifinal at Lincoln on Sunday. Y. Bu has won 5 of the last 10. Mark Lajal has won 6 of the last 10.
The two have never played — a first meeting always adds a layer of uncertainty the numbers can't fully capture.
On paper it's close: comparable ratings, comparable serve numbers, small margins everywhere. Lajal comes in off a compressed schedule; Bu comes in off a compressed schedule. A tiebreak or two would surprise nobody, with Bu fractionally more likely to land the big points.