Luca Nardi: from the wink of luck for Etcheverry’s withdrawal to the unthinkable possibility that Novak Djokovic will be removed from the poster

Sometimes the planets align and this week it seems the fairies of destiny have touched their wand Luca Nardithe young Italian tennis player, just twenty years old, who this Monday will play the third round of the Indian Wells 1000 Masters against the number one in the world and his greatest idol, Novak Djokovic.

Nardi, 123rd in the ATP ranking and without activity on the major circuit in 2024 – he had played the qualifications without much luck and three challengers – had lost in the last ranking round of the tournament played in the Californian desert against the very experienced Belgian David Goffin.

However, this fan’s adventure of Naples and reggaetonero Ozuna was far from exhausted in the California desert. His intuition was what made him not pack his bags in a hurry and the impossible became possible. “I didn’t think about staying. I only stayed because there was the slightest possibility of getting in and it happened. My mind was already turned to the next tournament”, he acknowledged in statements to the official website of the ATP Tour.

What happened? Nardi’s second life in Indian Wells came thanks to the Argentine Tomás Martín Etcheverry He abandoned the tournament, still suffering from the injury that took him out of the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires. Main draw and second round secured, as the player from La Plata was pre-classified. Bingo.

Then tennis appeared. On Saturday, in his unexpected debut in the first Masters 1000 of the season, he beat the Chinese Zhang Zhizhen with the score of 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 and earned the right to play against Djokovic, the idol he admired since childhood.

Yes, in the room of his house in Pesaro, where he lived with his father Darío, a notary by profession, his mother Raffaela and his brothers Niccolò and Giulia, little Luca had a poster of Nole. Mind you, I also had another one from Roger Federer…

“I think it’s the best experience a guy like me can have, especially a young guy like me,” Nardi says of what his match with the greatest Grand Slam winner of all time will mean.

Nardi picked up the racket for the first time at seven years old with Niccolò, then 14, at a club in Pesaro, his hometown, and began his professional career at 16. Four years later he will experience the moment he has always dreamed of.

This is also said by a fan of his compatriot Valentino Rossi, the Italian Moto GP hero, also born in Pessaro He went from being extremely shy to having his mother next to the net wanting to entertain those who watch their games. “When I’m on the pitch, I like to play very aggressively and that could entertain the crowd. I don’t like being boring on the pitch“, warning.

It will be his second match against a top ten team. Two years ago she addressed Stefanos Tsitsipas at the ATP 500 in Astana, a Kazakhstan, and made the Greek work, who needed two tie breaks to advance to the quarterfinals. “I learned that with a player of that level I can’t lose points without concentrating. I have to focus on every point, on every shot I make.“, summed up this guy who last year played the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he lost two matches and won one without being able to advance to the semifinals.

This Monday, at 10 pm in Argentina – it will probably be a little later – Nardi will see his biggest dream come true: “Being here, Playing in a stadium like this in front of this crowd and in front of the number one in the world is truly incredible for me.“, hill.