The big mouse

The king of the rats enters the court, JM Cerundolo is going to give Darderi a rough time

Playing against JM Cerundolo is horrible, he rounds off every trajectory, locks you in on the backhand side, and plays in such a special way that even when you win you feel like you played badly. I was quite disappointed by his match last week as well; JM never found any solutions against Martinez and fully deserved to lose, even though, as he said, the conditions were ideal for his game. That’s less true in Rio, with a much lower bounce since it’s humid and heavier (and they play in the evening). He’s not really bothering many people here, even if we note a win over Darderi in 2024! Hard to know why, but one thing’s certain: Darderi has become a beast since then, he consistently lives up to his seeding and is aiming even higher. His tournament in Buenos Aires was excellent, the scoreline in the final is one-sided but that’s harsh. I’m not too worried about the back-to-back events, he already did a clay double last year and he’s aiming for the top 10, every week he’ll be all-in. He’s able to generate power with his arm and get free points on serve; I’m honestly not very worried about this matchup, I really don’t see JM Cerundolo having the weapons to trouble him on clay that doesn’t really suit his game…