Luca Nardi (born 6 August 2003) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 70 achieved on 20 May 2024.[1] He also has a career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 299, attained on 10 April 2023.

Luca Nardi
Country (sports) Italy
Born (2003-08-06) 6 August 2003 (age 21)
Pesaro, Italy
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
CoachFrancesco Sani
Gabriele Costantini
Stefano Pescosolido
Prize moneyUS $1,237,942
Singles
Career record7–24
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 70 (20 May 2024)
Current rankingNo. 110 (18 November 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenQ2 (2024)
French Open1R (2024)
Wimbledon1R (2024)
US Open1R (2024)
Doubles
Career record1–3
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 299 (10 April 2023)
Grand Slam doubles results
French Open Junior2R (2021)
Last updated on: 18 November 2024.

Nardi's biggest breakthrough came when he defeated World No.1 Novak Djokovic at the 2024 Indian Wells Masters.

Biography

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Son of Raffaella and Neapolitan notary Dario, he began playing tennis at seven at the Tennis Club Baratoff in Pesaro, encouraged by his parents and especially his older brother, Niccolò, who later left sports for design studies. He attended a scientific high school in Pesaro for two years before moving in September 2019 to the Federal Technical Center in Tirrenia, where he was coached by Claudio Galoppini, balancing sports with studies. He enjoys soccer and padel, supports Napoli thanks to his father, and idolizes tennis players Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

Career

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2020–2021: ATP debut

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Nardi made his ATP main draw debut at the 2020 European Open in singles, where he lost to Marcos Giron in three sets, and in doubles partnering Zane Khan.[2]

He reached career-high rankings of World No. 356 in singles and No. 544 in doubles on 13 December 2021 after reaching the semifinals in singles and quarterfinals in doubles respectively as a wildcard at the 2021 Città di Forlì III Challenger.

2022: Four Challenger titles, Masters & Top 150 debuts & first ATP win

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In the first week of the 2022 ATP Challenger Tour, Nardi won his first Challenger title at the 2022 Città di Forlì Challenger, defeating Mukund Sasikumar in the final.[3][4] As a result, he reached the top 300 on 17 January 2022 at world No. 296.

He won his second Challenger title at the 2022 Challenger Città di Lugano, defeating Leandro Riedi in the final.[5] He made his Masters debut at the 2022 Rome Masters as a wildcard.

He won his third Challenger title at the 2022 Rafa Nadal Open in Mallorca, beating Zizou Bergs in the final. This was his first Challenger win on an outdoor hard court. He made his debut in the top 150 at world No. 142 on 12 September 2022.[6]

At the ATP 500 2022 Astana Open he qualified into the main draw defeating top seed David Goffin. He won his first ATP match and first at the ATP 500 tour-level defeating fellow qualifier Alexander Shevchenko to reach the second round.[7] He lost to third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in very close match with two tiebreaks having had two breakpoints, and conceding none.[8]

2023–2024: First Masters and world No. 1 wins & fourth round, top 70

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Ranked No. 159, he made his debut at the 2023 Monte-Carlo Masters after defeating fourth seed Constant Lestienne and eleventh seed Oscar Otte in the qualifying competition.[9] He won his first round match, recording his first Masters win and only his second on ATP tour-level, over wildcard Valentin Vacherot. He lost by a double bagel to compatriot and 16th seed Lorenzo Musetti in just 50 minutes.[10][11] As a result, he moved more than 15 positions up in the rankings.[citation needed]

He received a wildcard for the main draw at the Italian Open,[12] where he lost in the first round to David Goffin in three sets.[13]

In August 2023, he won his fourth Challenger title in Porto, defeating Portuguese João Sousa in the final and reached a career high ranking of No. 116 on 28 August 2023.[citation needed] In October 2023, he received a wildcard for the main draw of the 2023 European Open but lost to Dominic Thiem in the first round.[14] He qualified for the 2023 Next Generation ATP Finals.[15]

Ranked No. 123 at the 2024 BNP Paribas Open he replaced as a lucky loser, 30th seed Tomás Martín Etcheverry directly into the second round.[16] He defeated Zhizhen Zhang for his first win at this Masters and reached his first third round at this level.[17] In his next match, he took the first set off world No. 1 Novak Djokovic the first lucky loser to do so at an ATP Masters 1000 event, and the first at an ATP event overall since fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego in Vienna 2020.[18] He ended up winning that third round match in three sets against the top seed to reach the fourth round for the first time in his career and became the lowest-ranked player ever to defeat Djokovic at a Masters or a Grand Slam.[19] As a result he made his top 100 debut in the rankings.[20][21]

He won his sixth Challenger title at home soil in Napoli after defeating Pierre-Hugues Herbert in three sets.[citation needed] Nardi passed first round at home Masters 1000 event in Rome, where he beat Daniel Altmaier,[22] before losing to 10th seed Holger Rune.[23]

Nardi made his Grand Slam tournament debut at the 2024 French Open, but lost in the first round to Alexandre Müller.[24]

In November 2024, Nardi reached the final at the ATP Challenger HPP Open in Helsinki, Finland, losing to Kei Nishikori in the final in three sets.[25]

Performance timelines

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Singles

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Current through the 2024 Paris Masters.

Tournament 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 SR W–L Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A Q1 Q2 0 / 0 0–0  – 
French Open A A Q3 Q1 1R 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Wimbledon NH A A Q2 1R 0 / 1 0–1 0%
US Open A A Q1 Q1 1R 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–3 0 / 3 0–3 0%
ATP Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells Masters NH A A A 4R 0 / 1 2–1 67%
Miami Open NH A A A Q1 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Monte-Carlo Masters NH A A 2R 1R 0 / 2 1–2 33%
Madrid Open NH A A Q1 A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Italian Open A A 1R 1R 2R 0 / 3 1–3 25%
Canadian Open NH A A A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Cincinnati Masters A A A A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Shanghai Masters NH A 1R 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Paris Masters A A A A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–1 1–2 3–4 0 / 7 4–7 36%
Career statistics
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 SR W–L Win %
Tournaments 1 0 4 6 12 Career total: 23
Titles 0 0 0 0 0 Career total: 0
Finals 0 0 0 0 0 Career total: 0
Hard win–loss 0–1 0–0 1–2 1–4 2–5 0 / 11 4–12 25%
Clay win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–2 1–3 1–4 0 / 9 2–9 18%
Grass win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–3 0 / 3 1–3 25%
Overall win–loss 0–1 0–0 1–4 2–7 4–12 0 / 23 7–24 23%
Win % 0%  –  20% 22% 25% 22.58%
Year-end ranking 787 364 135 118 110 $1,268,337

ATP Challenger and ITF World Tennis Tour finals

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Singles: 14 (10 titles, 4 runner-ups)

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Legend
ATP Challenger Tour (7–3)
ITF WTT (3–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (7–2)
Clay (3–1)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Mar 2020 M15 Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt WTT Hard   Jaroslav Pospíšil 5–7, 6–4, 7–6(7–5)
Win 2–0 Jun 2021 M15 Genova, Italy WTT Clay   Johan Nikles 6–4, 6–2
Loss 2–1 Jul 2021 M15 Perugia, Italy WTT Clay   Andrea Basso 3–6, 6–4, 6–7(3–7)
Win 3–1 Sep 2021 M25 Madrid, Spain WTT Clay   Louis Wessels 7–5, 6–2
Win 1–0 Jan 2022 Forlì, Italy Challenger Hard (i)   Mukund Sasikumar 6–3, 6–1
Win 2–0 Mar 2022 Lugano, Switzerland Challenger Hard (i)   Leandro Riedi 4–6, 6–2, 6–3
Win 3–0 Aug 2022 Manacor, Spain Challenger Hard   Zizou Bergs 7–6(7–2), 3–6, 7–5
Loss 3–1 Feb 2023 Pune, India Challenger Hard   Max Purcell 2–6, 3–6
Win 4–1 Jul 2023 Porto, Portugal Challenger Hard   João Sousa 5–7, 6–4, 6–1
Win 5–1 Nov 2023 Matsuyama, Japan Challenger Hard   Taro Daniel 3–6, 6–4, 6–2
Loss 5–2 Feb 2024 Chennai, India Challenger Hard   Sumit Nagal 1–6, 4–6
Win 6–2 Mar 2024 Naples, Italy Challenger Clay   Pierre-Hugues Herbert 5–7, 7–6(7–3), 6–2
Loss 6–3 Nov 2024 Helsinki, Finland Challenger Hard (i)   Kei Nishikori 6–3, 4–6, 1–6
Win 7–3 Nov 2024 Rovereto, Italy Challenger Hard (i)   Francesco Maestrelli 6–1, 6–3

Doubles: 1 (1 title)

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Legend
ATP Challenger Tour (0–0)
ITF WTT (1–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Mar 2021 M15 Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt WTT Hard   Jacopo Berrettini   Shintaro Imai
  Hsu Yu-hsiou
6–3, 2–6, [10–7]

Wins over top 10 players

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  • Nardi has a 1–1 record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.[26]
Season 2024 Total
Wins 1 1
# Player Rank Event Surface Rd Score LNR
2024
1.   Novak Djokovic 1 Indian Wells Open, United States Hard 3R 6–4, 3–6, 6–3 123
*As of 12 March 2024

References

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  1. ^ "Player overview – Luca Nardi". atptour.com.
  2. ^ "Ruben Bemelmans tests positive for corona and fits for ATP-Antwerp |..." AlKhaleej Today. October 18, 2020.
  3. ^ "Luca Nardi vince il torneo ATP Challenger di Forlì a 18 anni". Sky Sports. January 9, 2022.
  4. ^ "Sasikumar loses to Luca Nardi in final in Italy". United News of India. January 10, 2022.
  5. ^ "Luca Nardi vince il Challenger di Lugano: secondo successo e best ranking". Sky Sports. April 3, 2022.
  6. ^ "#NextGenATP Stars Nardi, Passaro Shine Bright, Boosting Milan Chances". Association of Tennis Professionals. September 5, 2022.
  7. ^ "Luca Nardi Seeks Stefanos Tsitsipas Upset in Astana | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  8. ^ "Stefanos Tsitsipas Passes Luca Nardi Test in Astana | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  9. ^ "Hubert Hurkacz Saves M.P., Survives 3:19 Thriller in Monte-Carlo | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATPTour.
  10. ^ "Sinner Advances, Musetti Sets Djokovic Clash in Monte-Carlo | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATPTour.
  11. ^ "Musetti becomes first player since 1997 to seal double bagel win at Monte-Carlo Masters". tennisuptodate.com. 12 April 2023.
  12. ^ "Fognini and Errani lead the Rome wild cards". internazionalibnlditalia.com. 28 April 2023.
  13. ^ "Rome Masters: Goffin to take on Zverev in second round". Tennis Majors. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  14. ^ "European Open: Thiem fights back to overcome Nardi and reach second round". Tennis Majors. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  15. ^ "Michelsen, Medjedovic & Nardi Qualify For Next Gen ATP Finals". Next Generation ATP Finals. 20 November 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  16. ^ "Tomas Etcheverry, the No. 30 seed in Indian Wells, has withdrawn from the BNP Paribas Open".
  17. ^ "Indian Wells lucky loser Nardi makes most of second chance, advances to third round". 9 March 2024.
  18. ^ https://twitter.com/OptaAce/status/1767370344531365995 [bare URL]
  19. ^ "Novak Djokovic falls to 20-year-old Italian Luca Nardi in third-round stunner at Indian Wells". 12 March 2024.
  20. ^ "Nardi, 20, stuns Djokovic in Indian Wells". ATPTour. 12 March 2024.
  21. ^ "Nardi breaks the Top 100 following Djokovic win, Mover of Week". 18 March 2024.
  22. ^ "Rome Masters: Italy's Nardi advances to second round, plays Rune next". Tennis Majors. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  23. ^ "Rome Masters: Rune makes third round with win over Nardi". Tennis Majors. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  24. ^ "Roland-Garros: Wildcard Muller eases past Nardi to make second round". Tennis Majors. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  25. ^ "'Happy' Nishikori wins Helsinki Challenger title". ATPTour. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  26. ^ "LN Win/Loss".
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