From bedroom poster to Indian Wells clash: Luca Nardi excited to face Novak
Player Features
From bedroom poster to Indian Wells clash: Nardi excited to face Djokovic
Learn more about the 20-year-old Italian
March 11, 2024
Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
Luca Nardi competed in the 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF.
By Andrew Eichenholz
Since Luca Nardi was eight years old, he has seen a poster of Novak Djokovic on his bedroom door.
On Monday, the Italian will face the No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open.
“I think it’s one of the best experiences that a guy can live, especially for someone young like me,” Nardi told ATPTour.com. “I have a picture of him in my room, so you can understand. You can imagine for me how this can be very exciting. For sure it’s going to be a great experience.”
The 20-year-old Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF alumnus has watched countless matches the Serbian has played over the years. One that sticks out is Djokovic’s victory in the 2019 Wimbledon final against Roger Federer in which he saved two championship points en route to the title.
This will be the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head encounter and only Nardi’s second match against a Top 10 opponent. He has the utmost respect for the 40-time ATP Masters 1000 champion’s game.
“I like how he can move on the court. He is a very dynamic and elastic player,” Nardi said. “I love his mentality to always be tough and always try to be focussed and try to not let the opponent see how he feels or what he thinks. So it’s a very nice thing.”
Nardi was very close to not competing in the Indian Wells main draw at all. In the final round of qualifying, the Italian lost to 2017 Nitto ATP Finals champion David Goffin. He was third on the lucky loser list.
Not only did Nardi eventually get into the draw, but he received a bye into the second round because the player he replaced, Tomas Martin Etcheverry, was seeded.
“I wasn’t thinking about staying here. I was supposed to leave on the following day,” Nardi said. “I just stayed because there was a small chance to get in and it happened. My mind was already on to the next tournament.”
Nardi has waited for moments like this since he first stepped on the court in Italy as a boy following his older brother, Niccolo, to their local club.
“It’s very cool. Thinking where I started, in a smaller tennis club where I was very shy to be on the court,” Nardi said. “My mom had to be on the net post because I needed her to be there. I had to have someone [to give me] confidence.
“To be here now, to play in a stadium like this in front of this crowd against the No. 1 in the world, for sure it’s something great for me.”