Luciano Darderi Celebrates Twice; Another Bitter Derby for Matteo Arnaldi
Luciano Darderi defeated Matteo Arnaldi in the all-Italian matchup in the first round of the Erste Bank Open, the ATP 500 tournament in Vienna. Within just a few hours, the Argentine-born Italian tennis player had two reasons to celebrate: his 7-5, 6-2 victory over the Sanremo native came shortly after the official announcement of his selection for the Davis Cup Finals, scheduled to take place in Bologna in a month.
Arnaldi, on the other hand, was in a completely different frame of mind, forced to swallow another bitter pill in a head-to-head match between compatriots: for the 2001-born player, this marks his second consecutive loss in just a few days to another Italian, following his defeat on October 19 in Lyon at the hands of Lorenzo Musetti, who went on to win the ATP 250 tournament.
The dynamics of the Austrian tournament are thus closely intertwined with the official selections made by Italian team captain Filippo Volandri. For the Final Eight in Bologna, the coach decided to stick with the doubles pairing of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori—who played together for the last time at that event—while for the singles, he strictly followed the world rankings updated this week, though he had to do without top-ranked Jannik Sinner due to injury.
With Flavio Cobolli having climbed to No. 6 in the world and Musetti at No. 26—bolstered by the 250 points he earned in Lyon after four years without an individual title, aside from his Olympic bronze medal— Darderi earned his spot thanks to his 23rd-place ranking in the ATP standings. Arnaldi, ranked 36th, is effectively the first among those left off the roster.
Matteo Berrettini, currently ranked 45th, is also left out, even though he played a decisive role in 2025 in securing the team’s third consecutive Davis Cup title. It should be noted, however, that Volandri can still make substitutions in case of injuries before the Final Eight, which will take place in Bologna from November 24 to 29.
