Darderi triumphs at 2 a.m. after smoking stop: "Best win of career"

Luciano Darderi beat rising star Rafa Jodar in three sets and qualified for the first time in his career to the semifinals of the Internazionali d’Italia, where he will face Casper Ruud. The Italo-Argentinian player won 7-6, 5-7, 6-0 in a never-ending match, which was suspended due to smoke from fireworks at the Olimpico (where the Italian Cup final was being held) and ended at 2 a.m.

“I think it’s the best win of my career, for the crowd and everything. It is a dream to play here in Rome and reach the semifinals for the first time in this tournament. It was hard because we started at 11 o’clock at night, the court was slow and Rafa is a fantastic tennis player. I had my chances in the second set, but he played unbelievable. So I kept fighting and I’m really happy with how it went,” he told Sky after the match.

“It was a struggle; after the second set I never thought I would win. I just tried to fight and think game after game.In the third set I pushed more and I am very happy with the ending.”

“I tried to play more on the forehand because Rafa is more solid on the backhand side. Also I tried to move him around and play some backs to change rhythm, the ball was jumping very little because of the humidity. In the third set, on the other hand, I realized that I had to push because he was coming into the court and hurting me every time I shortened.”