US Open: the last Italian player remaining in the competition has also been eliminated. Luciano “Positive experience, but from 2026 I still expect satisfaction”
Nothing to do for Luciano Darderithe last Italian remaining in the US Open competition concluded his adventure in the round of 16 against Alexander Zverev. The number two in the world won in three sets, but the score in favor of the German says much less than what was seen on the court with Darderi who fought as always and who was not helped by the fact of playing in the evening and on the central court, when previously all the matches played at Flushing Meadows had been played during the day and on peripheral courts. In the first set Zverev started very well and Darderi was in great difficulty so much so that the German took a 4-0 lead and then closed the first match 6-2. Zverev plays at a very high level with excellent percentages: 43 winners and 86% points won with the first and only one break point granted and then cancelled. In the third set Darderi finds the right rhythm and holds his own against his opponent until the tie-break where Zverev’s experience gets the better of him and so the German closes the match in three sets.
Darderi happy but not too much
“He was good; he played a great match and always served well – said Darderi analyzing the match –. I, on the other hand, was a little tense: it was the first time I played in the evening, on a different stage, with lots of people moving around and I wasn’t able to play freely. He’s more used to it, he did his thing and immediately broke my serve in the first two sets. In the third set I showed my level a little better, but today the serve didn’t work and didn’t help me in the important moments. I would have liked to have had some luck in the third set; at 2-3, 0-30 I had a small chance, but in the end he always served well and didn’t give me many opportunities to get back into the match. Compared to the match in Rome I had more difficulties here. Here it is more difficult to return his serve; I don’t know what the ace percentages were, but I remember that he made two or three aces in every game. It’s difficult to manage a situation like that: as soon as you suffer a break then it becomes difficult to recover.” The New York experience was positive for Darderi: “I think it was a good trip: many points, many games played. I lost to strong players, and I’m convinced I still have a lot to improve. It was my second time in the round of 16 of a hard court Slam: once I lost to Sinner, once to Zverev and last year to Alcaraz. When I got to the bottom I lost to the top three players in the world, there’s little to say but these are the matches that make you grow.” Now Darderi is thinking about the future, he still expects great satisfaction from 2026: “Tokyo will be my next event. I’ll take a few days off to regain my concentration and get back to my best, then I’ll get back to work. This stop will also be good for me mentally, because the American trip was long. I’m thinking about doing my best in the tournaments between now and the end of the year because I have a few points to defend and many goals still to be achieved.”
