Darderi triumphs in Umag for a second title in two weeks
Luciano Darderi defeated Carlos Taberner 6-3, 6-3 on Saturday in the Croatia Open final, only a week after his Nordea Open victory
Luciano Darderi lifts the trophy in Umag | © Imago / Psnewz
Italian Luciano Darderi capped off a second consecutive week with a title as he won the Plava Laguna Croatia Umag Open on Saturday.
The world No 46 defeated Spain’s Carlos Taberner 6-3, 6-3 in just 80 minutes at Goran Ivanisevic Stadium, within a week of his Nordea Open victory.
“It is something special for me,” Darderi said after the win (via ATPTour.com). “The last month has been crazy. I just want to thank my dad and my whole team. Without them it would be impossible. I am very happy about the title.
“It was two crazy weeks. If you told me this two weeks ago, I’d say it was impossible. But I am very happy with my performance and my tennis was incredible this week. I will try to rest now and continue to play like this in the next week on hard courts.”
Darderi, the No 2 seed, defeated Tseng Chu-hsin (7-5, 6-0), Dino Prizmic (1-6, 6-2, 6-3) and Camilo Ugo Carbelli (7-6 (6), 6-3) in the previous rounds. He is now on a nine-match win streak, having secured five in Bastad.
No break points conceded
Darderi didn’t allow Taberner to create a break point but broke the Spaniard’s serve thrice in the two-setter. He recorded seven aces, 19 winners and prevailed in eight of the last 10 exchanges of the match.
He averaged 87 percent on his first-serve points and 80 percent on the second. Taberner, on the other hand, committed two double faults and 10 unforced errors in total.
Darderi notably rolled his ankle before the championship point and began struggling with his movement; however, he managed to cross the finish line.
The Italian now has four titles under his belt. He won his first silverware in Cordoba last year and has already taken three trophies home this season—only the third player to do so after Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Bublik.
