A matchup we’re starting to know well.

We saw this clash recently in Bastad, Sweden, and now we get a rematch between two players I often see in action.

Borges was leading 3–0 against Darderi before losing that match in Båstad. The Portuguese still had 3 set points in the first set before rather logically giving way in the second part of the match. I didn’t feel the match-up was amazing for Darderi like in their last meeting, for the simple reason that the Italian isn’t ultra-aggressive all the time, which could bother Borges. The heaviness of Darderi’s ball doesn’t have a catastrophic effect on Borges. That’s why, in my opinion, he has an advantage in their head-to-heads.

That said, it’s not a one-sided match-up for Borges either, because Darderi is playing at a very good level and also knows how to hurt his opponents. Moreover, he’s aware that on hard courts, you need to increase your level of aggression to be effective, and that’s exactly what he’s working on.

What’s concretely different in this meeting compared to the last one? First, the surface, even if we’re still talking about a hard court that isn’t very fast and a bounce that’s relatively decent, which suits Darderi very well since he doesn’t get rushed too much and can construct his points. It’s a bit the same for Borges, who prefers to have time and attack in his own way. I have a huge feeling about the Portuguese: I find him excellent for weeks now, but he still hasn’t managed to get the big result to validate that. He’s dominating his early matches very easily so far and hasn’t spent much energy yet, unlike Darderi, who has already had to battle a bit more than he has, even if it hasn’t been extreme.

Logically, it should be another tough battle and come down to the ends of sets. Mentally, they’re two extreme competitors, both capable of coming back from far behind.