Don't fall asleep!

Darderi played well during the Golden Swing and at the start of the year, but I'm afraid he might slack off a bit over the next few weeks.

Very strange match in his first round at Indian Wells against Hijikata, he basically threw away the second set and tried to get back into it in the third, but he was missing something and Hiji played really well too! I’m wondering if that loss was just a combination of circumstances or the start of a bit of a comedown. In any case, he didn’t play any Challengers and that’s clearly a choice after a strong start to the season. I’m definitely not writing him off, especially since the conditions this week are much better suited to his game. With just his serve/forehand he’s totally capable of hanging in matches, but if things start to get a bit tight he’s going to trip over his own feet.

That carpet might well be named Landaluce; the Spaniard has made a big impression since the qualifiers, and I’ll repeat what I said in my analysis of his R1: he’s gaining consistency this season and really ramping up. The win over Giron was deserved, cleaner on serve and far too solid from the baseline, he backed up his good performance in qualifying. He’s now on a three-match winning streak in conditions that suit him well too, and I think he’s really got something to play for against Darderi. It’ll be their first meeting and for me the only thing to check is whether Darderi gets too many free points on serve; if not, it’s fine, I see Landaluce as complete enough from the baseline to get stuck into the fight and create his chances.