Italian youngster Luca Nardi shocked the world when he defeated Novak Djokovic in the round of 32 of the 2024 Indian Wells. Djokovic, being the World No. 1 on the ATP rankings and the top seed of the tournament, was one of the favorites to win the Indian Wells this year but that was unfortunately not to be as the 20-year-old Italian had other plans.
The tennis scene in Italy is really booming and Jannik Sinner is undoubtedly at the forefront of this massive growth. He recently became the highest-ranked Italian player ever in the ATP rankings (rank 3) after winning the 2024 Australian Open, which was his first-ever Grand Slam title. As it turns out, he knows Luca Nardi pretty well, and he was all praise for the youngster in one of his latest Indian Wells pressers.
Talking about Nardi, he said that they were supposed to practice together in the offseason this year but unfortunately, the youngster twisted his ankle the second day. Moreover, Sinner said that Italy has a lot of good coaches now, who are giving rise to world-class players.
At the presser, Sinner said:
Yeah, we know each other, I won't say really well, but we know each other quite good. He was supposed to practice with me in the offseason this year. He twisted his ankle the second day, so he went back. But I know him. He's an incredible player. Big, big talent. He has built now, what I know, his team behind him, that what we have now in Italy, we have a lot of great coaches, a lot of good structures where players can build on. Jannik Sinner said
Jannik Sinner faces Jiri Lehecka in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Indian Wells
Jannik Sinner has been in invincible form lately and he is yet to lose a match in 2024. Before the Indian Wells, he participated in two tournaments this year, namely the Australian Open and ATP Rotterdam and won both titles. With Novak Djokovic already out of Indian Wells, he is now the favorite to win this tournament as well.
So far, he has faced Thanasi Kokkinakis, Jan-Lennard Struff and Ben Shelton in the respective rounds and has not lost a single set in the tournament. The Italian will now face Czech tennis player Jiri Lehecka in the quarterfinals. The two players have played a total of three matches against each other to date and Lehecka unexpectedly has a better record in their head-to-head clashes and is 2-1 up on Sinner.
However, Sinner is hands down one of the most in-form players on the tour currently and he remains the favorite in this match. This might be the match where he draws level with Jiri Lehecka in head-to-head matches.
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