Italian players continuously challenge the versatile Spanish warrior Alcaraz.

This morning, in the second round of the 2025 US Open, the versatile Spanish player Alcaraz swept away the Italian left-hander Berrettini with a dominant score of 6-1, 6-0, 6-3. Two days later, in the third round of the 2025 US Open, world No. 2 Alcaraz faced another Italian challenger, the 32nd seed Darderi.

Italy is considered a traditional tennis powerhouse, comparable to countries like the USA, UK, Germany, France, Spain, and Australia. Especially since 2023, led by Italy’s rising star Sinner, Italian players have been achieving remarkable success one after another.

At the end of 2023, Italy reclaimed the Davis Cup team title after 47 years; at the end of 2024, they successfully defended the Davis Cup championship; at the 2024 Australian Open, Sinner won his first Grand Slam title and on June 10th, he became world No. 1, the 29th player to achieve this since the ATP computer rankings began in 1973, and the first Italian ever. To date, Sinner has held the top spot for over a year and two months, winning four Grand Slam titles, four Masters titles, and one year-end championship.

Besides Sinner, who is a benchmark in men’s tennis, there has been an explosion of Italian talent with many newcomers and strong players emerging. Currently, nine Italians are ranked inside the ATP top 100: world No. 1 Sinner, No. 10 Musetti, No. 25 Cobolli, No. 32 Darderi, No. 44 Sonego, No. 56 Berrettini, No. 62 Berucci, No. 73 Arnaldi, and No. 84 Nardi. Among the world’s top 100 male players, Italy ranks fourth with these nine representatives, behind only the USA, Spain, and France.

For this reason, at the 2025 US Open, after Alcaraz had just defeated the Italian left-hander Berrettini, he immediately faced another strong Italian, Darderi.

Born in February 2002, Darderi turned professional in 2019. At the 2024 ATP 250 Córdoba tournament, he started from the qualifiers and won seven consecutive matches to claim his first career title. In the 2024 season, he secured wins at both the French Open and Wimbledon and reached the third round at the Rome Masters.

In 2025, Darderi showed clear progress, winning three more ATP 250 titles and reaching the third round at Wimbledon, marking his best Grand Slam performance so far.

Darderi does not have any particularly outstanding technical skills but maintains a balanced and steady game overall. He performs especially well on clay courts, playing from the baseline with consistency, as evidenced by all four of his career titles being won on clay.

At the 2025 US Open, benefiting from the absence of young French player Fils and veteran Bulgarian Dimitrov due to injuries, Darderi became a seeded player in a Grand Slam for the first time, ranked 32nd. He lived up to this seeding by winning two matches to reach the third round, matching his best Grand Slam result achieved recently at Wimbledon.

In the 2025 US Open third round, following his compatriot Berrettini, Darderi stepped up to challenge world No. 2 and 2022 US Open champion Alcaraz.

For Darderi, who is not particularly strong on hard courts and has never faced Alcaraz before, winning a few more service games each set would be a success; if he manages to take a set off this formidable opponent, it would be a pleasant surprise.

For the ambitious Alcaraz, this last chance to gain match experience is crucial. He must address the tactical weaknesses revealed in the 2025 Wimbledon final loss by improving especially his first and second serve, and be ready to aggressively attack the opponent’s second serve, preparing fully for the tougher battles ahead.

(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Seven-Colored Bean Fan)