Can anyone stop Darderi?

Right now, it would take a lot to stop the Italian bulldozer...

Yes, he has not lost a match in Båstad yet, 7-0. Why is it so tough to beat him? Well, he is very solid from the baseline, serves pretty well, and can really accelerate his shots. Combine that with his mental toughness and clutchness in big moments, and you have a machine! Borges was most likely one of the tougher tests for him here in Båstad, but he was a deserved winner, even if the scoreline was competitive. Vallejo keeps his run going into the semifinals, and one of his strengths this week has been to be the better player in the big moments. Travaglia was putting quite some pressure on him in the first set, but he managed to resist, take the set, and then Travaglia's level dropped in the second set. I will say that his matches have not really been amazing, but he keeps winning by making himself very hard to beat - his opponents fade away while he maintains his level. Vallejo is putting his whole heart into it; you can tell that this means a lot to him - every break is celebrated with a huge roar!

While I don't want to underestimate Vallejo's level this week, I think this is where it is quite likely to end. While he is gritty and puts a lot of balls back, he does not really have any big weapons. His forehand fires nicely at times, and he is also decent at finishing points at the net, perhaps more so than your average claycourter. However, Darderi is a huge step up in level compared to any of his opponents this week. Darderi will likely get to dictate the majority of the points, and he has the weapons to put Vallejo away... but, importantly, the rally tolerance to hang with him and properly construct points. Vallejo's path to victory, for me, is to really extend this match and make it very physical, since that would be my concern with Darderi, who has not had a proper tough marathon match since his surgery...