The beast

Darderi is scary, he’s coming in overconfident and has just impressed in his R1.

For a comeback match on clay it was almost perfect from Darderi, he crushed Barrios and honestly I don’t see him losing to just anyone on clay this season, it’ll take something big. His forehand has insane weight, his serve still does damage and he’s improved in the rally game; Darderi is a top clay-court player but that’s nothing new. The question is whether Martinez can cause an upset again and reach the semi-finals of this tournament like last year. In any case, the Spaniard is finding his form again this week, he’s gaining momentum and has just beaten two local players while playing good tennis. His level isn’t the issue though, it’s Darderi’s profile: Martinez just beat two very passive players who are good in defense, but now he’s facing the complete opposite. Darderi isn’t going to let him dictate play and I don’t like the match-up for the Spaniard this time. They’ve played each other three times and Darderi leads 2–1, his loss was due to retirement, but this will be their first meeting on clay and that doesn’t worry me at all—quite the opposite.