Valentin Vacherot will not compete at this year’s Italian Open.
The 14th seed was due to play Croatia’s Marin Cilic in the second round. However, he has now withdrawn from the event and a lucky loser will take his place.
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This withdrawal represents a moment of disappointment for the Shanghai Masters champion, who recently demonstrated his clay-court prowess by reaching the Monte Carlo Masters semi-finals.
However, for Martin Landaluce, Vacherot’s withdrawal represents an Italian Open lifeline.
Martin Landaluce replaces Valentin Vacherot in the Italian Open draw
Martin Landaluce, 20, has quickly emerged as one of the brightest young talents on the ATP Tour.
In March, the Spaniard enjoyed his best performance at an ATP event to date, defeating Luciano Darderi and Karen Khachanov on his way to the Miami Open quarter-finals.
However, the youngster has struggled to perform at his best in three consecutive ATP Tour events.
The Spaniard was defeated in the first round of the Barcelona Open and Madrid Open.
This week, he fell in the second round of Italian Open qualifying to unseeded Italian player, Andrea Pellegrino.
However, Landaluce will now join compatriot Rafael Jodar in the Italian Open main draw, following the withdrawal of Valentin Vacherot.
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Remarkably, Landaluce has avoided playing the first-round of the Italian event and will face Marín Cilic in the second round.
Rafael Nadal’s social media message to Martin Landaluce
Following Landaluce’s run to the Miami Open quarter-finals, tennis legend Rafael Nadal sent the youngster a comforting message on X.
He said: “Congratulations Martin Landaluce! Great tournament! On to the next challenges!”
Landaluce, who trained at the Rafa Nadal Academy, previously spoke about the support Nadal provides.
“Yeah sometimes [we communicate\. We spoke in Jeddah, he was there watching the Next Gen,” Landaluce told the Tennis Channel.
“We had a few words in the locker room. He told me about things to improve, and I took that very deep and I try to improve that.
“And I think that those things I improved were thanks to the words we had. So yeah, I’m very grateful and thankful with him.”
