Darderi shines in Montreal: "Now I play well on all surfaces"
Always labeled as a player who only performs well on clay, the Italian is surprising this week at the Masters 1000 in Montreal, where he has already reached the quarter-finals: “I have improved a lot mentally.”
After breaking into the top 20, winning his first titles, and delving into the big stages, the only thing left for Luciano Darderi was to prove that his label as a 'clay courter' did not do justice to his potential. These days, at the Masters 1000 in Montreal, he seems determined to complete his mission.
That said, we cannot forget that if the Italian has reached the quarter-finals of the Canadian tournament, it's also because the draw has invited this type of hero to shine from the start. Gabriel Diallo, Juncheng Shang, and Nuno Borges have been his victims to make it among the best in the event; perhaps they are not the names that instill the most fear, but one must go out there and defeat them. This is what Darderi has accomplished, who explained his current situation just hours before facing his next opponent: Brandon Nakashima.
“I think confidence has been a key factor. At the beginning of the week, it wasn't the same, but after the match against Diallo and the next one, that gave me confidence,” he explained to the press. The results, the serve, and the return have been important elements, but it turns out that the big leap comes from elsewhere. “I think I have improved a lot mentally,” confessed the Italian. “In the last two matches, I lost the first set, and I think I always kept believing and fighting until I finally managed to pull them through,” he emphasized. That ability to endure is allowing Darderi to compete confidently in matches of two and three sets.
“I can play two and three sets; I feel good physically,” he assured after a battle of over two hours against Borges. A result that holds significant statistical value, as Darderi became the first player to reach ten quarter-finals this season on the ATP circuit and has already amassed 30 victories in 2026. “I believe I am playing well and now I do it on all surfaces. I am playing well everywhere,” he stated.
Luciano Darderi and the keys to his improvement on hard courts
Montreal is also confirming that he can transfer his game to hard courts after a long stretch of the season on clay. “At the beginning of the year, I also played very well, in Australia, achieving a result against Jannik. I was playing really good tennis there; then we went back to clay, and now we are returning to hard courts. I feel good, I feel great,” he explained.
And the Italian crowd in Montreal is also playing its part. “I think there were a lot of Italians. I was concentrated on playing, but I think the crowd helped me today. I tried to play with them,” he acknowledged. Darderi is already in the quarters, but he keeps his philosophy intact of taking it match by match, tournament by tournament. Just that.
This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Darderi se destapa en Montreal: “Ahora juego bien en todas las superficies”