‘Wild scenes’ as 22nd seed Luciano Darderi sprints off court after first-round win at Australian Open
There were “wild scenes” at the Australian Open on Tuesday as Italian star Luciano Darderi sprinted off the court immediately after booking his spot in the second round.
Darderi, the 22nd seed, beat Cristian Garin in straight sets, but the 7-6(5) 7-5 7-6(3) scoreline only tells half the story.
Both players struggled on another hot day at Melbourne Park, with both calling for medical timeouts at the same time at 6-5 in the third set.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow
Darderi had been struggling massively with stomach issues, and raced off the court to go the toilet, while Garin was battling blisters on his foot.
The Italian returned to the court and held serve to send the set into a tiebreaker.
He held it together to seal the match, before immediately sprinting to the other side of the court to shake hands with Garin and continue on to the bathroom.
If you’d like to view this content, please adjust your Cookie Settings.
To find out more about how we use cookies, please see our Cookie Guide.
“Sprinting to the net is Luciano Darderi … in fact, he might be sprinting to shake and leave the court … he is,” commentator Mike Cation said.
“Wild scenes for Luciano Darderi, who has left the building.
“Stomach cramps and all. And he picks up his first ever Australian Open win and won’t celebrate on court.
“That was a routine match, until it wasn’t. The last half hour was completely bonkers.”
The stunned crowd and commentators didn’t know what to think as the winner was nowhere to be seen.
But Darderi did eventually return to the court to thank fans and soak up his first ever win at Melbourne Park.
Darderi will play either Argentine Sebastien Baez or big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the second round.
It was a great day for the Italians with Lorenzo Sonego and Lorenzo Musetti also progressing to the second round.
Musetti is advanced when ailing Belgian Raphael Collignon quit during the fourth set of Tuesday’s encounter on Margaret Court Arena.
Collignon pulled the pin after dropping serve to trail 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 3-2, handing the fifth-seeded Musetti a path through to a second-round contest with countryman Sonego.
Musetti was relieved to advance after slugging it out for more than three hours before his opponent stopped.
“I struggled a bit on finding the rhythm and I was missing a lot of easy shots and especially with the forehand and the serve at the beginning,” he said.
“I had this feeling, then was fighting and especially after a really rough second set, I managed to play really well.
“I increased the level.”
Aussie Alex De Minaur and Musetti opened the year duelling for the world No.5 ranking before the Italian nabbed it after making the final in Hong Kong, where he also won the doubles title in a real confidence booster ahead of the Open.
“The year started pretty well for me,” he said.
“I made two finals – lost one, won one – so we’re even.
“Hopefully coming here with my best ranking of course, top five, is a really great achievement for me.
“But I take that as a starting point, not a finishing point.”
World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz and the second-ranked two-time defending AO champion Jannik Sinner have won the past eight slams between them, opening up a huge gap over their chasing rivals.
Even world No.3 Alexander Zverev, runner-up last year in straight sets to Sinner, and No.4 Novak Djokovic, a 10-time Open winner, are miles behind the top two in rankings points.
Musetti, though, is intent on bridging the gap and even contending for grand slam spoils this fortnight.
“The ambitions are really, really high,” he said.
“So hopefully I’m trying everything to make it happen, to try to go even higher.”
Eighth seed Ben Shelton also progressed on Tuesday, blasting a booming, airborne forehand winner on match point to take down French danger man Ugo Humbert 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-5).
The American let out a primal roar after sealing the deal against the highest-ranked player in the 128-man draw not seeded.
“Obviously I knew coming in on a court like this, anywhere, playing Ugo first round is a tough draw,” Shelton said after booking a second-round date with either Australian qualifier Dane Sweeny or veteran Frenchman Gael Monfils.
“But, for me, it was just focusing on the things I’ve been doing, focusing on the areas that I’ve been trying to improve and just try to get better as the match went on.
“I felt like I found some of my better tennis later in the match and that’s all you can hope for.”
– With AAP
‘Incredible’ debutant takes over despite losing to Aus Open champion
2 min read
Aussie No.1 stunned as local wildcard soaks up career-first win
2 min read
