Crunch time — down a set and trailing 5-3 in the second against two-time Rome champion Alexander Zverev — became go time for Italy’s Luciano Darderi on Tuesday at the Foro Italico.
The World No. 20, riding a wave of support from the Italian faithful, ratcheted up his level as Zverev, who had controlled much of the afternoon, began to wobble. The crowd erupted, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Darderi saved four match points and won the final seven games of a stunning 1-6, 7-6(10), 6-0 victory to reach his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal and earn his maiden Top 10 win.
“In the beginning, I was not feeling really good physically, but in the second set, I took some sugar, and I was really lucky because he gave me a lot of games,” Darderi said on court, a gold cross dangling from his necklace as he fielded questions. “At 5-3 in the second set, I was done. I think I was having a small chance in the second set that he gave me at 5-4, so I took it and the tiebreak was a lot of pressure for me and for him.”
Zverev played the match points poorly, making several costly errors as the crowd rallied behind Darderi, who met the moment with fearless tennis and an underdog spirit.
“I think it’s really nice, because it was really a fight mentally against myself, and this is the most important thing from today,” Darderi said. “It’s a dream to be here in the quarterfinals, because it’s the tournament of my life here. It’s in Italy, you have just one big tournament, and for the moment, to reach quarterfinals here for the first time, it’s crazy.”
Darderi had been 0-5 against Top 10 opponents entering Tuesday’s clash with the World No. 3, but the 24-year-old has been steadily rising for some time. The clay-court specialist reached his 14th ATP quarterfinal on the surface, where he also won a title earlier this season in Santiago (he has five ATP clay titles, all at 250 level).
“I think I have the level for anyone, but tennis is like this, you can beat Sascha today, and then you can lose against No. 50 in the world,” he said. “This is tennis. Sascha is an amazing player, with a lot of big achievements in tennis, so I have a lot of respect for him. He’s number two in the world. It’s just one match, we have to keep working.”
Darderi will next face fast-rising Rafael Jodar in the quarterfinals. The Spanish teenager raced past Learner Tien earlier on Tuesday, 6-1, 6-4, to improve to 15-2 on clay this season.
Also victorious on Tuesday were Casper Ruud, who defeated Lorenzo Musetti, 6-3, 6-1, and Karen Khachanov, who topped Croatia’s Dino Prizmic, 6-1, 7-5.
