“The most beautiful tournament of my life”: exausted Darderi dedicates his Rome run to his family
“I had no fuel today.” Luciano Darderi apologised to the crowd after a 6-1, 6-1 semi-final loss to Casper Ruud, at the end of a week that included his first top-three win, over Zverev.
Luciano Darderi, Rome 2026 | © Inside / PsNewz
Luciano Darderi’s Rome week came to an end on Friday with a 6-1, 6-1 semi-final loss to Casper Ruud, after a campaign that had included a 1-6, 7-6(10), 6-0 upset of world No. 3 Alexander Zverev in the round of 16. The 24-year-old Italian was visibly drained by the time he walked onto Centre Court – the third match of his week had finished in the early hours of Wednesday morning – and apologised to the crowd afterwards.
“Today I was very tired, and I apologise to the people who came,” Darderi said in his post-match remarks. “I had no fuel today, and the rain break, which I thought would help me, unfortunately did not. The lack of recovery time is part of tennis. I fought in every match and I tried to give the maximum.”
The 6-1, 6-1 scoreline left no doubt about how depleted he was — but Darderi made clear the week had transformed something for him.
Darderi’s “dream week”
“It has been a dream week. It’s been the most beautiful tournament of my life. After this tournament, I have more confidence in myself. I won some really beautiful matches, and the level of my tennis was very high. The memory I’ll take away is the match against Jodar.”
He closed by dedicating the run to his family.
“I dedicate this week to my grandmother – I hope she’s watching from somewhere – because her dream was that I would become a tennis player. And to my father, because if I am who I am, it’s thanks to him.”
Darderi entered Rome ranked No. 20 and is set to climb into the top 16 on Monday’s ATP Rankings. The week marked his first Masters 1000 semi-final, his first top-three win, and his first time defeating a top-10 opponent. He arrives at Roland-Garros in nine days as a seeded player at a Grand Slam for the first time in his career.
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