The Italian overcame top seed Cerundolo 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(3) in hot conditions at the Swedish ATP 250 to reach his third tour-level championship match. Darderi rallied from 2-4 in the final set to prevail in a match featuring 11 breaks of serve, according to Infosys ATP Stats. This helped him set up a Sunday final against Jesper de Jong.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cPlaying against Francisco is always very tough. Today I played an amazing match, but in front of me I had one of the best players in the world,\u201d said Darderi in his on-court interview. \u201cIt\u2019s never easy to play against a friend, too, but I played a great match. I fought until the last point, and I think that was the key to the match today.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Darderi had dropped just six games across his previous two matches in Bastad, against Elias Ymer and Sebastian Baez, respectively. Yet there was nothing straightforward about the Italian\u2019s victory against World No. 20 Cerundolo, even after he raced through the opening set.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Darderi was broken twice in the second set and twice more early in the third set, but he regained his edge to complete a comeback win, his biggest by ATP Ranking.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
With his two-hour, 34-minute win, Darderi avenged his defeats to Cerundolo in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro in the year 2025 and levelled the pair\u2019s Lexus ATP Head2Head series at 2-2. He will step on court Sunday with a 2-0 record in ATP Tour finals after his triumphs in Cordoba last year and Marrakech in April.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Darderi was broken twice in the second set and twice more early in the third set, but he regained his edge to complete a comeback win, his biggest by ATP Ranking.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"It's better than my coach, because he was a semi-finalist here in 2013, and now I did better than him, so I won't forget it,\" joked De Jong about his coach Thiemo de Bakker in his on-court interview. \"I'm very happy to be in my first ATP final. I was a little bit shaky at the end at 6-5, but that happens, and it turned out great.\"<\/p>\r\n\r\n