Internazionali d'Italia, Luciano Darderi takes out Tommy Paul and gives himself Zverev

Luciano Darderi flies to the round of 16 at the Internazionali d’Italia, the first time of his career at a Masters 1000. The class of 2002 Italian hits the feat by beating Tommy Paul in a comeback, beaten in three sets after winning the first. In fact, the final scoreboard reads 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 after 2 hours and 23 minutes of play, enough to deserve a prestigious challenge against Alexander Zverev in the next round. Important success also in view of the ATP ranking: the Italian-Argentinean currently occupies the number 20 position in the world rankings, while the American is 18th.

In the first set it is Paul himself who takes control of operations, taking advantage of his only break point to earn the 5-3 by keeping the serve in the next game. Darderi took great risks by losing his serve already at 1-0 in the following set, missing the counterbreak in an 18-point second game. With the American up 3-1, however, he no longer misses a beat and takes an impressive five games in a row with breaks in both the sixth and eighth games. His dominance continued in the next set, which saw him take a 4-0 lead, then being able to control operations until the well-deserved match point.

Sunday night’s was the second consecutive victory for Darderi at the Foro Italico in this tournament: in the previous round, the Italian-Argentinean had already impressed well by overcoming German Yannick Hanfmann with the same score of 6-4, 6-4, in 91 minutes of play. A solid performance, in which Darderi had not conceded a single game on his own serve, winning two breaks throughout the match. A clean sweep, then, which propelled him for the first time in his career to the round of 16 of a Masters 1000.

Darderi’s path in the Roman draw had already been outlined by last week’s draw: the Italian-Argentinian, seeded number 18, had initially drawn one between Hubert Hurkacz and Yannick Hanfmann, with the German then actually appearing as his opponent in the second round. Victory over Paul now opens the door to a very high-profile challenge against Zverev, world No. 3.

The next round opponent does not arrive in Rome at a particularly serene moment. Alexander Zverev, fresh from his heavy defeat in the final at the Madrid Masters 1000 against Jannik Sinner – dismissed in just 58 minutes of play – had caused a stir in the hours that followed for some press conference statements in which he claimed that he belonged to the same category as Alcaraz and Djokovic. Words that had triggered criticism from numerous insiders, including former tennis player Coco Vandeweghe, who pointed out to Tennis Channel that the German had never won a Grand Slam in his career. Even Toni Nadal, speaking at the microphones of Spanish broadcaster Onda Cero, had had harsh words towards the German: “I had the feeling that Zverev had already come onto the court with a weight on him, almost resigned.”

For Darderi it is therefore a historic opportunity, to be seized against an opponent who, despite his ranking and unquestionable talent, seems to be going through a phase of mental fragility. The Italian-Argentine, who had already proved his worth in Miami before succumbing to the young Spaniard Martin Landaluce, comes to the appointment with the awareness of someone who has built his ranking with continuity and solidity. The round of 16 at the Internazionali d’Italia represents the most important stage of his career, and the impression is that Darderi wants to play a leading role there.