Luciano Darderi fails to repeat at Bastad, while Andrey Rublev does. At the Swedish "Nordea Open," an ATP 250 event with a prize fund of 612,620 euros, the Italian-Argentine defending champion bowed out to the Russian, who had won here in 2023 and today repeated the feat with a commanding 6-4 6-3, exploiting the evident nervousness of the 24-year-old Italian player. For Rublev, this marks his 18th career title on the main tour.
After a balanced opening, at the tenth game Rublev capitalized on a poor service game from Darderi to take the first set. Visibly nervous, the Italian player took out his frustration on his racket and shirt following the errors that decided the first part of the match. The script did not change in the second set, which was shaped by the Russian's early break. Darderi tried to fight back in the very long third game, even creating a chance for a counter-break, but the opportunity slipped away and from that point Darderi, who with this defeat drops out of the Top 20, was unable to close the gap. It nonetheless remains a tournament that, the final aside, saw a high-level performance from the Italian player.
Meanwhile, at the ATP 250 in Gstaad, Switzerland, Greek player Stefanos Tsitsipas marked his return to winning ways, 505 days after his last title in Dubai. Tsitsipas, currently ranked 85th in the world, defeated Belgian Raphael Collignon, ranked 42nd in the ATP rankings, 6-4 6-7 6-3 in 2 hours and 18 minutes. For the former world number 3, it is his 13th career title and his first on clay since winning in Monte Carlo two years ago. The victory allows him to climb 30 places in the ATP rankings, up to number 55.
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