Tennis
2025-08-29 - Luciano Darderi vs Carlos Alcaraz
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
Tennis: US Open Third Round
Friday 29th August 2025 - Scheduled 11:30pm
4:30pm (British Time)
Preview
In terms of the World Rankings, this is the toughest kind of match that Carlos Alcaraz could face in the Third Round against an Unseeded player in the draw.
However, Luciano Darderi is up to World Number 34 in the World Rankings thanks to some really strong results on the clay courts.
It has been much tougher for the Italian when playing on the hard courts- he had lost seven of nine matches played on the surface in 2025, although there will be some confidence coming from the fact he has won twice in the US Open main draw.
The problem for Luciano Darderi is that he has not faced much competition with both wins being against players Ranked outside the top 100 and this is a significantly tougher test as compatriot Mattia Bellucci found out in the Second Round.
Carlos Alcaraz was also a pretty strong winner in the First Round after putting Reilly Opelka to the sword in straight sets.
The World Number 2 will have seen the form that Jannik Sinner has been displaying early in the US Open tournament and Carlos Alcaraz will want to make a statement of his own.
He should pretty comfortable in the match up against an opponent who has struggled to find his rhythm on the return of serve on the hard courts, but who has also only been winning 60% of points behind serve. That has given opponents the chance to put Luciano Darderi under pressure and it has led to some pretty comprehensive defeats on the hard courts over the course of the year.
Luciano Darderi's numbers on the hard courts when facing top 100 Ranked opponents are really concerning and he could be the latest Italian that falls by the wayside without putting in much of a dent in the Carlos Alcaraz push towards the Final.
The line is bigger than the Third Round and that will partly be down to the very impressive win that Carlos Alcaraz produced against Mattia Bellucci.
It doesn't take much for things to go wrong for a favourite with a line like this one, but Carlos Alcaraz is trying to turn the talk from his new hairstyle to the tennis being produced and another impressive performance is expected from the Number 2 Seed in New York City.
Prediction
Considering we have reached the end of the first week, this is a big handicap line for anyone to cover.
However, it has been a tough year on the hard courts for Luciano Darderi and Carlos Alcaraz looks like a man on a mission following his early US Open exit in 2024.
The Pick :
Luciano Darderi 0-3 Carlos Alcaraz
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back Carlos Alcaraz - 8.5 Games at 1.83 with Bet365
