Luciano Darderi, who had already reached the biggest quarterfinal of his career in Rome, is now through to the biggest semifinal of his career at the Masters 1000 event after a dramatic 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-0 victory over red-hot Spaniard Rafael Jodar on Wednesday night.
Or Thursday morning, rather.
In a match that had already started late due to rain earlier in the day, the two waited out a smoke delay—yes, a smoke delay—with Darderi serving at 5-6, 0-15 in the first set, when smoke from the Coppa Italia soccer final, which was being held 500 meters away, made its way over to the tennis stadium. The players, and even the electronic line calling system, had visibility issues, and play was halted temporarily.
After eventually sneaking out that first set in a tie-break, Darderi let go of a 3-0 lead in the second set, as well as a pair of match points with Jodar serving at 4-5, and the Spanish teenager pushed it to a third set.
But after holding in the first game of the decider, Darderi broke again after a marathon 28-minute second game to open up a 2-0 lead, then cruised the rest of the way, sealing the victory a few minutes after 2am.
Darderi is now through to his 10th career ATP semifinal, but it’s by far his biggest—all nine of his other ones came at the ATP 250 level.
“I think this is the best win of my career because of the crowd and everything here in Rome. It’s my first time in the semifinals—it’s a dream to play here,” the tenacious Italian said after the match.
“It was difficult because we started around 11, the court was really slow, and Rafa is an amazing player—so young, just 19 years old. I had my chances in the second set, but then he played just amazing.
“I just kept fighting, and I’m very happy about that.”
Darderi also joins a nifty group—he’s the 10th Italian player to reach a Masters 1000 semifinal, since the Masters 1000 level began in 1990.