Luciano Darderi signs the feat at the Internazionali d’Italia underway in Rome. The Italian, seeded number 18, comes from behind to beat Alexander Zverev with a score of 1-6, 7-6(10), 6-0 and gains access to the quarter-finals.
Comeback and four match points saved
A victory that came at the end of a very complicated match, which lasted two hours and 24 minutes. After a first set dominated by the German, Darderi managed to stay in the game in the second set, saving four match points before winning the tie-break.
In the third set Zverev’s total collapse occurred, as he was unable to defend the quarterfinals reached in 2025. For Darderi, this was the first victory in his career against a world number 3. The Italian had never beaten a top 10 player and in the five previous matches against Sinner, Alcaraz, Draper, Zverev and Musetti he had never even managed to win a set.
In the quarter-finals Darderi will face the Spaniard Rafael Jodar, who eliminated the American Learner Tien in two sets.
Musetti eliminated by Ruud
However, Lorenzo Musetti’s progress at the Italian Internationals ends in the round of 16. The number 8 ATP was beaten in two sets by Casper Ruud, who won with a score of 6-3, 6-1.
In the second set the Italian also needed a medical time-out due to some muscular problems that accompanied him throughout the week at the Foro Italico. In the quarterfinals, the Norwegian will face the winner of the match between Khachanov and Prizmic.