The Corriere de la Serra highlighted this morning a “feat of Italian tennis”, rewarding “a beautiful story”. A great story since Luca Nardi was drafted after a defeat in the second round of qualifying against David Goffin (7-6[4], 5-7, 6-4), before winning in the first round against the Chinese Zhizhen Zhang to join Serbian Novak Djokovic in the second round. The Italian media also suggests that “his ranking will certainly improve very quickly given (his) tennis offered at Indian Wells.”
La Gazzetta dello Sport also paid tribute to the performance of the young Italian. “Fabulous Nardi! The Azzurro beats King Djokovic in Indian Wells,” headlines the Italian daily. “Luca Nardi from Pesaro is the protagonist of an incredible feat, one of those that changes the course of history,” raves this same daily a few hours after the victory of the 123rd player in the world.
Eurosport Italia, for its part, notes, like many, the term “feat”, affirming that this victory is “the feat of his life”. TuttoSport repeats the player’s words, “it’s a miracle”, adding that “it’s not possible! It’s an incredible feat and the dream continues” for Luca Nardi. Il Tennis Italiano, for its part, was a “fairy tale”, which could continue into the next round. The 20-year-old Italian, 123rd in the ATP rankings (but already 95th in the ATP rankings), will face Tommy Paul, 17th ATP, for a place in the quarter-finals.