ATP Cordoba, Luciano Darderi’s star shines.

Luciano Darderi in the quarterfinals of the Cordoba tournament

In what è is a particularly prosperous moment for Italian men’s tennis, another new star begins to shine, that of Luciano Darderi: the 21-year-old, currently No. 136 in the world, in fact took Thursday a great personal satisfaction, reaching the quarterfinals of the ATP tournament in Cordoba (Argentina) after beating the world No. 38, Austrian Sebastian Ofner.

The match that saw the Italian tennis player (who was born in Argentina and moved to the Bel Paese at the age of 10) prevail was also much easier than expected: the first set ended in fact with a peremptory 6-0, while in the second Ofner snatched three games from Darderi, who, however, had no problem winning six more, closing the match after just 65'

Darderi, who had reached the tournament’s main draw after making it through qualifying, had beaten another decent tennis player, Chile’s Tomas Barrios Vera (No. 108 ATP) in the first round 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. Regardless of how the tournament will end, this is Darderi’s best result in an ATP Tour tournament: before today, in fact, he had never made it past the round of 16 on the major circuit.

At the minor tournament level, on the other hand, the 2002-born tennis player has achieved more than interesting results in his still young career: in fact, he boasts two Challenger Tour tournaments and two ITF tournaments in his trophy cabinet, in addition to no less than seven successes in doubles, four nl Challenger Tour and three in the ITF circuit.