The Spicy Italian Showdown

Expect a lot of fiesty hand gestures in this one...

Darderi was a slight underdog against Bu but looked nothing like it. Bu was coming from a long battle in his previous match, and with the way Darderi was blasting every ball, it turned into a real nightmare. Musetti was facing a potential trap match against a fresh Comesana, but ironically enough, it turned out to be Comesana crumbling in the heat in the second set. We are looking at brutal conditions on Monday when this match will be played, similar to today (Sunday), so that's something that needs to be factored in quite heavily. Straight away, there will be worries about Darderi's physique here; we have seen how much he cramps and struggles in the heat. Musetti, on the other hand, has great fitness, and he is one of the best players at extending rallies, so that looks good for Musetti, right? Well, in these conditions, being able to be the one who dictates the rally is a great advantage... that means that you are the one sending the opponent around the court. And yes, if Darderi is not able to break Musetti's defenses, this matchup is really bad for him; he will overhit and tire himself. However, we have to keep in mind that running around defending in these conditions is also a lot harder, and that leads to perhaps skipping that extra sprint every now and then. If the odds are what I suspect they will be, there is only one side that interests me here...