For Jesper de Jong, the tournament in Umag is over. He lost to the Spaniard Carlos Taberner with 5-7 and 3-6. Taberner is in excellent form and had previously defeated the top-seeded defending champion Francisco Cerundolo. Cerundolo, ranked 20th, is nearly 100 places higher than Taberner, who is ranked 111th in the world, but as has been proven once again, a higher ranking does not guarantee success. All in all, for Jesper de Jong, who is now ranked 83rd in the ATP rankings, it has not been a bad week. The quarter-final in Umag and directly preceding that, the final in Bastad (Sweden). That final in Sweden was won by Luciano Darderi, who is still in the tournament in Umag and has reached the semi-finals. However, it didn’t look like that was going to happen, as he lost the first set in the quarter-finals to Croatian talent Dino Prizmic. The just 19-year-old Croatian dominated the Argentina-born Italian on the court with a score of 6-1.
The combination of Argentine blood with the equally temperamental Italian sports culture quickly leads to emotional scenes on the court in the case of Luciano Darderi. If the author of this article were a racket, he would prefer to be that of the Italian Sinner rather than Darderi. The chance of survival is much greater that way. Darderi was once again behaving in his usual manner by kicking the gravel, hitting the boards, and furiously throwing his racket. Certainly not a role model for the youth, but definitely a very good tennis player. The method of mental recovery is less elegant, but the fact is that Darderi once again managed to play his way out of trouble with passion, dedication, and excellent tennis (1-6, 6-2, 6-3).
Darderi’s victory earns him a place in the semifinals where he will face Damir Dzumhur. The Bosnian had previously defeated Wawrinka and in the quarterfinals, it was the French serve cannon Titouan Droguet who fell victim. Dzumhur was aided by the fact that Droguet suffered a groin injury, which made it difficult for him to move well despite a medical time-out. The French qualifier won the first set 6-3 and came close to winning in the second set, but Damir’s varied play, which included many beautiful drop shots and returning a lot of balls, became too much for him.
Titouan was clearly hindered by a leg that no longer wanted to cooperate, but, supported by his beloved, he did not want to give up. With the encouragement of a group of enthusiastic French fans and part of the audience, he fought bravely, but in vain (6-3, 5-7, 2-6). The only other qualifier still in the tournament, the Spaniard Pablo Llamas Ruiz, had to concede defeat in his match against the Argentinian Camilo Ugo Carabelli. With a score of 6-4 and 5-2, it was over for the Spaniard, allowing the Argentinian to advance and face Luciano Darderi in the semifinals.
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