Big stuff for Luciano!

Paul is a two-time semifinalist in Rome and almost seems more at home there than Darderi.

No problem win for Paul to make his debut in this tournament against Vukic. The opposition was really weak, it’s going to take more than that to really gauge his level. But I think we can still count on him this week to perform, given that he likes this tournament and has already played well on clay in the past.

I still find it a bit hard to trust him at the start of tournaments, because he often takes a bit of time to get going, and I feel like once he’s up against a really good player who poses a real challenge, it immediately becomes more complicated. He starts forcing things a bit too much and makes a lot of errors.

I don’t know how much of a factor it is, but last year Orsiner didn’t face any Italians in Rome, which in itself is a huge challenge. The crowd is insanely fired up, that’s the case for all the Italians, and you can see that it works pretty well.

Darderi is going to have to rely on the crowd to raise his level. I have to admit that, for once, he made a good impression on me in his first-round match. This is a tournament that means a lot to him. He was quite tense at the start of the match, with a very closed-off expression. Even when he got the break, he stayed impassive. You could really feel that he was more focused and diligent than usual so as not to mess up his first match here, which mattered to him. The level of play was good. As I said, I found him very committed to making Hoffman play, without trying to overdo it or get worked up. It’s a mature performance from Darderi that makes you want to believe in him this week.

He’s been struggling for several tournaments now and has generally been disappointing, but as I said, Rome is different. Playing at home in front of his crowd can help him quickly get back to his best level, like a wave of a magic wand. I don’t know how much we can rely on him, but I have a strong feeling he’s going to play a big match tomorrow.