[3] M. Navone b. [8] L. Darderi 6-3 7-5
With great merit Mariano Navone wins the final of Challenger 175 of Cagliari. He beats Luciano Darderi and continues his journey towards the possibility of entering the 32 seeds for Roland Garros. Ends 6-3 7-5 with few recriminations for the blue who suffered a lot in his innings, not finding depth with his shots. Very foul with his forehand, Darderi changed tactics in the second set after realizing he couldn’t break through with his ground game. At that point he surprised his opponent with numerous and valuable runs to the net. However, the growth of Navone, a player with clean shots and who pushes with great determination, is worthy of applause. He will face it Lorenzo Musetti for a great final scheduled for Sunday afternoon (5.30pm live SuperTennis).
Darderi’s service match was a deficient and he closed with the 47% of first pitches in campoe del 50% points earned with it. On the other side, superior Argentine with the 71% of first fieldings.
The premises of the match
Both are between the revelations of this 2024 and they enter the field with very clear ideas. The Argentine must try to chase the opportunity to enter among the top seeds at Roland Garros, while Darderi seeks a pass to the Paris 2024 Olympics. A success at the Challenger 175 in Cagliari could earn him all this. A great dream that would come true for Luciano. The two meet again after the 1st round in Bucharest, dominated by the Argentine. In Buenos Aires, however, it ended with the success of the blue. Navone comes from the defeat in Madrid against Holger Rune, 7-6 in the third, while Darderi achieved his first victory at 1000 level against Monfils in two sets and then had bothered Fritz.
First one-sided set in favor of the Argentine
Uphill departure for the blue which is located immediately below 0-40 in the first game. The shots don’t work, the forehand fails and a double fault condemns him to give up serve. Darderi is also in difficulty in the third game, but manages to come out on top and move the score. It goes without saying who the prestigious club is rooting for Tennis Club of Cagliari.
The blue player enters the game by pushing hard on the diagonal of the forehand and finding two errors from Navone that send him to 15-30. They arrive two balls of the possible counterbreak when the Argentine’s backhand ends up in the net. On his first shot comes Darderi’s error, but on the second his drive from the baseline is suffocating and he wins the exchange with a great forehand on the open court, after sending his opponent running for miles: 2-2. But the counterbreak it’s a harbinger of the idea that things have changed. Navone pushes back from the baseline and immediately breaks his opponent’s serve again. First one-sided set with the Argentine creating big problems for Darderi from the baseline. He pushes well with the forehand and immediately finds the double break advantage which is worth the 6-3 of the first set. Seeded no. 3 of the seeding who serves 76% of the first balls compared to 58% of his opponent who wins 48% of the points with the first serve.
In the second set, Darderi fights, but in the end gives up to the explosiveness of his opponent
The blue changes tone in the second set: he appears at the net and decides not to wait any longer for the shots of his opponent, especially because he doesn’t find the necessary depth.
Navone focuses a lot on his serve and cancels the first break point of the second set against him. It turns 2-1 without a break with much more determination from Darderi. The game at the net gives him joy but also pain in the fourth game in which he goes up 40-15 but then misses a very simple smash at the net. Navone forces him to take advantage after a back-and-forth exchange, in which he comes out on top with great personality. The Argentine wastes a forehand down the line by centimeters that ends up in the corridor and misses another with much more abundance: it’s 2-2. Navone’s series of horrors continue as he has a moment of confusion and finds himself 0-40 with three break points to face. The first two go away without any worries for him, but on the third Darderi finds a forehand at the crossroads that wins the 3-2 break and the first lead of the match. The No. 1 seed. 8 of the seeding fails to take off: a double fault, a forehand error cost him the possibility of a break. Navone makes a mistake in length and Darderi thanks. The latter’s forehand, however, disappears again and a second break point arrives it earned them 3-3. The blue player sinks his forehand into the net and protests for a ball that he considers out. But for the referee, who came down to check, the opinion was different. Once the moment of fog has passed, Navone returns to push with his shots and Darderi must get excited to bring home a “15”, as when he closes a delicate exchange for the net with a valuable volley 30-15 down 3-4. The blue is forced to take advantage but does very well above all because he now surprises his opponent by closing the gap to the net as soon as he can. The pressure is all on Darderi who is forced to serve twice to stay in the set. At 6-5 in favor of the Argentine he goes 15-30 down, but reacts with a powerful forehand. The match point arrives with a forehand error by the blue player who sends a very risky shot down the corridor. Navone plays an extraordinary exchange and corners his opponent. A risky smash arrives defended by Darderi, but then he closes the net and wins the Cagliari final with Musetti.
