Luciano Darderi is eliminated in the round of 16; Botic Van De Zandschulp wins in one hour

Luciano Darderi ended his run at the ATP 250 tournament in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on a sour note. On the U.S. hard courts, the 24-year-old Italian suffered a crushing defeat against Dutch player Botic Van De Zandschulp, who is ranked 71st in the ATP rankings but managed to prevail in two sets in just over an hour of play with a humiliating score of 6-1, 6-0. It was a day to forget for the Italian-Argentine, ranked No. 22 in the world, who gifted his opponent 10 unforced errors in just the first three games and proved initially inaccurate on his serve, gradually becoming less effective from the baseline and then at the net. Nerves and double faults in the second set did the rest. He now heads to New York and the U.S. Open, where the 2002-born player hopes to bounce back.

This defeat stands in stark contrast to the strong play Darderi had shown in the preceding weeks. At the Montreal Masters 1000, the Italian reached the quarterfinals of a tournament of this category for the first time in his career, coming from behind to defeat Portugal’s Nuno Borges with a score of 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. That result had also allowed him to re-enter the Top 20 of the world rankings on a permanent basis. His Canadian dream, however, was shattered by American Brandon Nakashima, who dispatched him in one hour and 17 minutes with a decisive 6-2, 6-3, once again highlighting the Italian’s fragility on serve—just 28% of points won on his second serve—and emotional management that wasn’t always up to par in decisive moments.

The issue of inconsistency has been a recurring theme in Darderi’s hardcourt season. In July, on the clay courts of Bastad, the Italian-Argentine had played a high-level tournament, advancing all the way to the final of the Nordea Open, only to lose to Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-3. That defeat, however, confirmed his overall progress, coming after a grass-court season that had been rather disappointing: he was eliminated in the first round at Wimbledon by American Ethan Quinn and in the quarterfinals in Mallorca by Borges, despite being the top seed.

Diego Nargiso, a former Italian tennis player and commentator for Supertennis, offers a clear assessment of Darderi’s potential and limitations. He recently stated: “I’ve known Luciano since he was a kid. He’s made an incredible leap forward, but I think he’ll need to set aside some of his recklessness and fighting spirit to find his own identity, because he plays really well on fast courts.” These words sound like a roadmap for improvement, right on the eve of the U.S. Open.

At Flushing Meadows, Darderi joins a large and ambitious Italian contingent that will have to do without its top player: Jannik Sinner, the world No. 1 with 12,800 ranking points and 86 consecutive weeks at the top of the rankings, has in fact withdrawn from the U.S. Open due to a knee injury that already forced him to pull out of Montreal and Cincinnati. Leading the Italian contingent will therefore be Flavio Cobolli, currently ranked No. 6 in the world, fresh off a semifinal appearance in Cincinnati and a final at Roland Garros—achievements that have established him as the face of Italian tennis heading into the season’s final stretch.