The happy medium

Meeting between an Argentine earth‑courter and an American fan of fast courts

Opposite trajectories for our two friends: Carabelli has been grinding clay tournaments over the last month with mixed results. He kept his title in Rosario but then completely fell off, and his thigh injury seems to be back, which is sad for him. On the other hand, Damm had a huge tournament in Montpellier and has only played one event since then: a win over Bertola (who’s in good form) and a very tight loss to Collignon. You could say he’s managed to keep performing well. We’re really expecting a lot from him this week though; with what he’s shown recently and the fact we’re in Indian Wells, there’s a bit of hype around him. It’s his first time playing this tournament, and the slow courts aren’t ideal, but it’s still hard courts. He’s confident and physically/mentally fresh as well, which is a real advantage, even if the pressure will be on his side!

For Carabelli it’s trickier. As I said, his injury seems to be back, but I missed his MTO in the last match (so we’re not sure it was for the reason mentioned). I personally think that’s what it was, and his attitude shows it: he’s in “beaten dog” mode, head down and no desire at all; it was glaring in his last two matches. If we refer to last year, he’ll keep playing through his injury while sulking, and if that’s the case we’ve got great value on Damm. If not, Carabelli will fight with what he’s got: he’s not bad on hard, but he’s simply not the same player as he is on clay.

Damm is an extreme profile: he’s a lefty, an excellent server, ultra-aggressive, and with a high-risk game. He’s going to hurt Carabelli in short rallies and seems to be in good enough shape to keep that up throughout the whole match.