Darderi surrenders in the semifinals. Ruud wins 6-1 6-1
He now awaits the winner of the challenge between Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev in the final
by Carlo Festa
Luciano Darderi, an Argentinean naturalised in Italy, went down at the Foro Italico with a clear 6-1 6-1 in one hour and five minutes of play against the Norwegian Casper Ruud in a one-sided semifinal, also conditioned by a long interruption due to rain. The Norwegian, a clay-court specialist and former Madrid champion as well as two-time Roland Garros finalist, imposed a superior level of intensity, depth and tactical management from the very first games, almost completely neutralising the Italian's offensive solutions. He now awaits the winner of the match between Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev in the final.
Ruud found from the start high first percentages and above all a depth that pushed Darderi away from the court. The Italian, on the other hand, appeared tense on his serve. The first break came quickly, with Ruud opening up the court by insisting on his opponent's backhand and then closing with his forehand.
In the next game Darderi, although now out of gas after the challenges of the past few days, manages to come back. It was an isolated break, however. Ruud immediately returned to take tactical control of the game, increased the depth of his strokes and won a new break for 3-1, exploiting the Italian's difficulties in lateral moves.
From then on, the Norwegian dominates above all in the construction of the exchange. Darderi is often forced to hit backwards. Ruud consolidated his lead by easily holding serve for 4-1, while the Italian continued to concede too much on his serves.
The fifth game of the first set was emblematic: Darderi went up 40-15 thanks to an excellent cross-court forehand, a solution with which he tried to open up the court, but progressively lost aggression in the following exchanges. Ruud extended the exchanges and induced the Italian to make errors. At advantages, the match was suspended due to rain.
