Flawless Jack Draper cruises past Luciano Darderi in to reach Rome third round

Jack Draper secured a straightforward victory against Italian Luciano Darderi 6-1, 6-4 and continues his impeccable form, advancing to the third round of the Rome Open. The world No. 5 had a flawless first set and overcame crucial points in the second set to eliminate the local player.

The recent Madrid Open finalist reached the Round of 16 in Rome for the first time and will face qualifier Vit Kopriva (No. 92), who comes from eliminating clay-court specialist Sebastian Baez (32nd seed).

First Set

The first set quickly went in Draper's favor, who won the first 8 points consecutively and took a 2-0 lead in a hesitant start from the Italian. Darderi managed to hold serve for the first time and seemed to get back into the match, but the Brit remained far superior from the baseline.

Darderi had a break point opportunity at 1-4, but Draper came through with some impeccable service points and managed to extend the lead. Draper capitalized on the two break opportunities he had in the following games and remained solid on serve to take a comfortable set 6-1 in just 25 minutes.

Second Set

Things began to even out in the second set after Darderi again held his serve and then put Draper against the ropes in a long service game where the Italian couldn't capitalize on a break point and several deuces.

With the score at 3-3 and neither player having conceded serve, a 16-point game was played where Darderi had four break point opportunities but couldn't take advantage, missing several due to unforced errors and balls that landed in the net. The Brit, champion of Indian Wells 2025, showed composure in the complicated moments, saving 7/7 break points he faced. When it seemed that the Italian was getting closer to taking the lead, Draper brought out his best tennis and took advantage of the tension in the 10th game to secure the break that gave him the 6-1, 6-4 victory.

Match Statistics Draper vs. Darderi