Wu, at last?

A big potential wasted by injuries, the Chinese player Wu is finally arriving healthy and in conditions he likes!

On paper, there’s no contest for me. Nardi is a poor Grand Slam player. But sometimes he tricks us. He has stretches in the year when he’s really very good, and sometimes very bad. His baseliner game can really reach high levels, and I’m always wary of the moment when he’s going to bring that out. Last year, he had already surprised me against Diallo. But he came in with a bit more confidence. My theory is that he still hasn’t really grasped the extent of his potential. I still feel he’s a bit like a teenager, in love with his blonde girlfriend, who doesn’t really believe in himself yet. He practically apologized for beating his compatriot Cobolli in Rome. Meanwhile, Wu has a slightly cold style. I saw the Chinese player extremely motivated in the qualifiers, and for me he has a very good game against Nardi because he serves better and can destroy the Italian with a stronger baseline game. It’s going to be a very rhythm-based match, and Wu is more powerful. If he stays healthy, for me he goes through here. I’d even go further and say we could see a somewhat subdued Nardi who starts hitting double faults under Chinese pressure, and then it all goes by fast!