The crowd will have two home favorites to root for in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open, as top-seeded Jannik Sinner sailed to another victory and No. 18 seed Luciano Darderi saved four match points before upsetting second-seeded Alexander Zverev on Tuesday in Rome.
Sinner faced qualifier and fellow Italian Andrea Pellegrino in the Round of 16 and came away with a 6-2, 6-3 victory. The result tied Sinner with Novak Djokovic for the longest streak of match wins in ATP Masters 1000 history with 31.
In the tour’s last event, the Madrid Open, Sinner became the first player to win five straight Masters 1000 titles. He’s now three steps away from not only making it six in a row, but joining Djokovic as the only players to win all nine Masters 1000 trophies.
His national open happens to be the only one Sinner is missing. He lost to Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in the final last year.
“I am very happy with the outcome,” Sinner said. “I am very happy for (Pellegrino). We played seven years ago in a smaller court and it is nice. From an Italian point of view, it is amazing there are so many Italians in the Round of 16. It was a good match for both of us.”
Darderi gave the Roman crowd more to cheer about when he rallied past his German foe 1-6, 7-6 (10), 6-0.
Darderi trailed a set and a break before charging out of a 4-2 hole to lead the second set 6-5. Zverev held serve to prompt the tiebreaker, and he had the first crack at a set (and match) point at 6-5.
But Darderi saved that point, then failed to capitalize upon going ahead 7-6. Zverev led 8-7, 9-8 and 10-9 but never put it away; Darderi perfectly placed a drop volley to save the fourth match point.
By the time Darderi won the set, he had broken Zverev’s spirit. The Italian won two-thirds of the points in the third set to cruise to victory.
“I won because of the crowd,” Darderi said. “You can’t give up here. The crowd helped me a lot and it is a dream to be in the quarterfinals. It is the tournament of my life.”
Spanish phenom Rafael Jodar continued his excellent run on clay as the No. 32 seed defeated No. 19 Learner Tien 6-1, 6-4 to reach the quarters. The 19-year-old won the ATP 250 event in Marrakech, reached the semifinals in Barcelona (ATP 500) and made the quarters in Madrid (ATP Masters 1000), where he lost to Sinner.
“I am super happy,” Jodar said. “I just try to play the matches and be focused on what I have to do. I am super happy with how I handled the important moments in this match. Learner is a tough opponent.”
Jodar’s next match is a date with Darderi, while Sinner will face No. 12 Andrey Rublev of Russia in the quarterfinals. Rublev defeated Georgian qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2, coming back from a set and a break down.
No. 7 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia beat Argentina’s Thiago Agustin Tirante 6-3, 6-2; his next opponent will be Spanish lucky loser Martin Landaluce, who edged Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic 7-5, 6-4. No. 23 seed Casper Ruud of Norway upset Italian eighth seed Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 6-1, and Russian 13th seed Karen Khachanov beat Croatian qualifier Dino Prizmic 6-1, 7-6 (2).
–Field Level Media
