“These are the matches that are really important to build confidence. Winning a match against a player around the Top 25 [Humbert], and not playing your best tennis, is a real positive.
“The serve was the shot that was most affected by my hip problem. I kind of lost my technique on my serve and I couldn’t drive up to the serve. So I had to change my serve through necessity and lost a lot of power. I didn’t really get that back.”
Since making adjustments to his serve, the world No.113 feels he is playing in a different way and gaining more points – something that will be pivotal in his quest to get more victories under his belt and eventually reach 700 tour-level wins, as he currently sits on 683.
“There has been moments in the past couple of years when I have served well, but I had to look at it after Wimbledon and make a few adjustments,” he said.
“In the matches in the [United] States, I was getting a lot more free points. It changes the way you play.”