Luciano Darderi beats Khachanov and gives himself Jannik Sinner: "I never would have guessed"

A dream week for Luciano Darderi in Melbourne. The Italian-Argentine, number 22 in the seeding and 25 in the ATP ranking, in fact, also beat Karen Khachanov, number 15 in the seeding and 18 in the world, with the final score of 7-6 3-6 6-3 6-4 after almost three and a half hours of play. “It was a very exciting moment: honestly, the way the week started, I would not have expected it – admitted the Blue in the press conference – It was the first victory in the main draw in Australia, and now to be in the second week is something special”.

Thanks to this victory, in fact, the 23-year-old Villa Gesell native reached the round of 16 in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in his career: “It feels good, and I think my team and I deserve it; we are working in the best way, with consistency and quality. The progress on concrete is evident, and beyond defeats or wins I feel I have gained good confidence on this surface” too.

“Today was a really difficult match, Khachanov has a lot of experience on this type of surface and is used to playing in Slams– added Luciano -. I think I handled the nerves very well in the important moments, that was the key. I just lost my mind a little bit in the second set, however, I came back really strong at the beginning of the third set. The break at 3-2 in the third set made all the difference. Tactically we prepared and played it very well, and also physically I held all four sets well”.

In the round of 16 Darderi will take on Jannik Sinner in an all-Italian derby: “Playing against Sinner, on the ‘Rod Laver Arena,’ represents a gift. Right now Jannik and Carlos are the dominators of the circuit, so it will be a nice experience. I will try to give my best, always staying focused on myself”.

The Blue dedicated the victory to Cristian Garin, who lost his father Sergio, who passed away on Friday: “The dedication came from my heart: we are friends, we train together and we have the same athletic trainer. He is a good person, he is going through a difficult time and I wanted to let him know that we are close to him. I am sure he will come back stronger than before”.