Luciano Darderi ITA, 2002.02.14 – Photo Getty Images
The adventure ends in the second round Luciano Darderi at the Masters 1000 in Madrid. After the convincing victory on his debut against Gael Monfils, the Italian tennis player, currently number 60 in the ATP ranking, had to surrender to a Taylor Fritz in great shape. The American, number 13 in the world, showed off one of his best performances on clay, prevailing with a score of 7-6 6-4 in an hour and twenty-five minutes of play.
In the end, it was the solidity of Fritz’s game that made the difference. The American scored 33 winners against just 7 unforced errors, demonstrating an almost perfect performance. The percentage of points won with the first serve is also impressive: 87%. Darderi, for his part, can still be satisfied for having held his own for a long time against one of the best players on the circuit, as demonstrated by his 22 winners and 11 unforced errors.
Darderi tried to keep up with his opponent, especially in the first part of the match, but in the long run he had to give way. In the first set, the blue took a big risk in the sixth game, when he found himself facing three break points, but managed to save himself thanks also to a bit of luck. This led to the tie-break, dominated however by Fritz who, thanks to two mini-breaks, took the lead to 5-0, then closed 7-1.
In the second set, Darderi paid for the efforts of the previous set and Fritz took advantage of it, immediately breaking the Italian’s serve. The blue tried to react, taking advantage of a moment of decline from the American to regain the break, but the reaction didn’t last long. Darderi, in fact, made a few too many mistakes, perhaps due to the frenzy of wanting to close the exchanges quickly, and Fritz took advantage of this to break again and then close the match without any particular worries.
The doors to the third round now open for Fritz, where he will face the Argentine Sebastian Baez. Darderi, on the other hand, greets Madrid with the awareness of having played good tennis and of being able to compete at high levels. The experience gained on these courts will undoubtedly be invaluable for the continuation of his season on clay.
ATP Madrid
6
4
Taylor Fritz [12]7
6
Winner: Fritz
Service
Execution
Set 2
L. Darderi
15-0
30-0
40-0
40-15
40-30
40-40
A-40
3-5 → 4-5
L. Darderi
0-15
0-30
15-30
15-40
30-40
1-1 → 1-2
L. Darderi
0-15
0-30
15-30
30-30
40-30
0-0 → 1-0
Service
Execution
Set 1
Tie-break
0-0*
0*-1
0*-2
0-3*
0-4*
0*-5
1*-5
1-6*
ace
6-6 → 6-7
T. Fritz
0-15
3-3pm
ace
30-15
40-15
5-5 → 5-6
T. Fritz
15-0
ace
3-3pm
30-15
30-30
40-30
3-3 → 3-4
L. Darderi
15-0
3-3pm
15-30
30-30
30-40
40-40
40-A
40-40
A-40
40-40
40-A
40-40
A-40
2-3 → 3-3
T. Fritz
15-0
3-3pm
30-15
ace
40-15
ace
ace
0-0 → 0-1
