Italian tennis player Luciano Darderi secured his spot in the Italian Open semifinals after defeating Spanish teenager Rafael Jodar 7-6(5) 5-7 6-0 in an exhausting three-hour battle that concluded in the early morning hours of Thursday.
Coming off an impressive upset victory against second seed Alexander Zverev in his previous match, the Italian maintained his strong form during the late-evening quarter-final match on Campo Centrale, where enthusiastic spectators remained despite weather delays that pushed the schedule well into the night.
Play was temporarily halted during the first set when smoke from fireworks at the adjacent Stadio Olimpico drifted over the tennis venue. The nearby stadium was hosting the Coppa Italia final between Inter Milan and Lazio, and the smoke reduced court visibility while briefly affecting the tournament’s electronic line-calling technology.
After competition resumed, Darderi mounted a comeback from a 2-5 deficit in the tiebreak to capture the opening set before his supportive home crowd.
The 18th seed seemed poised for a quick victory after jumping ahead 3-0 in the second set, but Jodar mounted an impressive comeback to even the match. The Spanish player saved two match points, held serve to reach 5-5, then broke serve again before closing out the set to force a deciding third set.
The demanding second set appeared to exhaust 19-year-old Jodar in the final set, as he lost serve twice while Darderi regained command to secure the victory.
“I think it’s the best win of my career because of the crowd and everything here in Rome,” Darderi said in his on-court interview.
“First time in the semi-finals, it’s a dream to play here. It was difficult because we started around 11, the court was very slow … I just kept fighting and I’m very happy about that.”
Darderi’s semifinal opponent will be Casper Ruud, who defeated Russia’s Karen Khachanov 6-1 1-6 6-2 in Wednesday’s earlier action.
Ruud dominated early, cruising through the first set before rain halted the match for nearly two-and-a-half hours early in the second set.
The extended break allowed Khachanov to reset and shift momentum, with the Russian evening the match after recording 11 winners and just one unforced error in the second set.
Ruud regained his composure in the final set and thrilled spectators by executing a spectacular tweener shot while securing his victory and reaching the Rome semifinals for the first time since 2023.
