The match between Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece) and Luciano Darderi (Italy) could not have ended any closer. Although the Italian was the better player for long stretches of the match, the former world number three triumphed 6:4, 3:6, 7:6(5) in the end.
There's no doubt about it - Stefanos Tsitsipas was biting right from the start. The Greek saw Luciano Darderi's first serve out of bounds and complained. An almost five-minute discussion ensued before the match continued. The former world number three continued to play with such bite and was rewarded for his aggression in the fifth game of the first set. The first break of the match went to him and after 32 minutes he took the entire set 6:4.
But anyone who thought that Stefanos Tsitsipas would continue to play so consistently was wrong. Instead, it was now Luciano Darderi who dominated the match. His serves were better, his baseline shots more accurate and Stefanos Tsitsipas now made more mistakes. There were few rallies. The server dominated the action on the grass with his service. This time, the Italian managed the decisive break and secured the second round 6:3.
Luciano Darderi remained the dominant player in the decisive third set. Not only did he hit the more spectacular shots, he also earned five break points in this round, but was unable to capitalise on them. It also didn't help the Italian that he hardly managed anything on Stefanos Tsitsipas' serve. So it went into a tie-break, in which the Greek benefited more from his opponent's mistakes. The score was 6:2 in favour of the Greek, but the fourth match point was to be the end of the match.
