My protégés are in demand

Darderi and Giron are among the players I often defend, but I dared to bet against Darderi in the previous round..

I’ll say it again: Darderi can definitely play well on fast courts. He’s powerful, serves well, and still has a big margin for improvement. Against Tabilo he didn’t start well, but he fought (as always) and turned the match around before finishing strong. His serve clicked and he hammered Tabilo with heavy shots and power; the Chilean spent the second half of the match just defending. Giron, on the other hand, didn’t really have to struggle — far too solid and focused to be caught out by a tired Michelsen. The American is in great form, backing up his Hong Kong tournament and clearly looking like the big favorite in this matchup. On hard courts he’s supposed to have the edge and dominate Darderi. For one thing, he defends better than Tabilo and is physically stronger too, so no drop-off expected; Darderi really can’t afford a bad start this time. The head-to-head is 1–1: an easy win for Darderi on clay and a tight win for Giron on grass. Now we’re in new conditions that, in my opinion, suit Darderi quite well. It’s not excessively fast, so he has time to set up his game, and the bounce is decent — his ball really grips. Giron won’t let him do whatever he wants, but the Italian impressed me in the second half of his match yesterday, so I think he definitely has what it takes to bother him, both on serve and in rallies with his power.