The pressure is shifting sides

Bellucci played a local player today and got himself out of a real trap; now that it's behind him he’ll be more relaxed, while Darderi comes in with the pressure of defending his title.

Bellucci really wasn’t good today, but we have to admit that his opponent put up a great fight and also had massive support from the crowd. I can tell you that once you’re on court in that kind of atmosphere and facing a player who doesn’t give away a single point, rankings don’t matter anymore and you just have to find any way out you can. Bellucci even cramped at the end, but he still got the win. He says he was tired, but he has to play again tomorrow. Cramps are one thing, but it’s more the mental fatigue on top of that that worries me for him. We know that the slightest moment when his brain switches off, he can start doing anything. I’m not convinced by his level on clay either; he’s impatient and in the end not that great, I’d forgotten that.

On Darderi’s side, he’s going to have to get the win machine going again because he’s coming in with two losses in a row and big disappointments after his title in Santiago. In the moment, you think that losing to Hijikata and then Landaluce is a disaster, but when you see the tournaments they played afterwards, it’s really not shameful at all. And in both of those matches, Darderi kept looking for solutions to get out of trouble without ever giving up, that’s a real strength, he hates losing. He’s going to come here to bounce back in this tournament and with the desire to defend his title. We know we can count on him in smaller tournaments; he excels in them. However, the pressure is high and he’s arriving without confidence, so the start of the match might be a bit tricky, even if for me there’s no contest on clay: he’s clearly better than Bellucci and should show it.