Sweeny After Musetti: Now It's Darderi in the Third Round

Dane Sweeny faces Luciano Darderi today in the third round of the US Open, two days after eliminating Lorenzo Musetti, the 13th seed, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. The Australian entered the draw on a wild card and is ranked 123rd in the world. He had never gone this far at a Slam before.

The match against Musetti came down to physical condition. The Italian won the first set, then faded in the heat and humidity of Stadium 17, the sunken court at Flushing Meadows where the air barely moves. Midway through the second set he told his box he couldn't feel his legs and was about to faint; he called a medical timeout at 0-3 in the third and played the rest of the match barely moving. Sweeny, 5-foot-7, took control of the rallies and closed out points at the net whenever he could.

In the first round, Corentin Moutet retired while the Australian led 7-6(4), 6-4, 3-0. Before this tournament, Sweeny had won only one match in a Slam main draw: against Gael Monfils at the Australian Open in January, before losing in the second round to Ben Shelton.

Darderi, the 21st seed, comes off nearly four hours against qualifier Dalibor Svrcina, beaten 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4. The Italian-Argentine has five ATP titles, all on clay, and his best Slam result remains the round of 16 at this year's Australian Open. Musetti's elimination cost him an all-Italian clash that looked already written.

The two have met only once, in qualifying at the 2023 Australian Open: Darderi won 7-5, 1-6, 6-1.