Ruud routs Darderi to crush Italian hopes

Casper Ruud survived a two-hour rain interruption on Friday as he destroyed Italian hopes with a 6-1, 6-1 hammering of Luciano Darderi to reach his first final at the Rome Masters.

The Norwegian came good on his fourth semi-final at the Foro Italico and will play the winner from world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev.

Darderi was running on fumes after playing a cumulative nine hours here and clearly lacked energy. That combined with the emotion of his first match at this level may have contributed to the one-way scoreline.

Ruud becomes the sixth active player to reach the finals of all three spring Masters events – Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome.

The match was paused with Ruud leading 4-1 over Darderi, with the frustrated Italian having already had a strong espresso delivered in a paper cup as he sat on the bench pondering his game.

The two-hour stoppage did nothing to change the match momentum, with Ruud starting the reprise with a hold for 5-1, collecting the set a game later with another break of serve.

In the second set, it was more of the same frustration for Darderi, trailed 4-0 before claiming a game.

Ruud calmly went about his business undisturbed, taking a 5-1 lead on the back of a 10-minute game and wrapping up his trip to the Sunday title match after baely an hour of time on court.

 “This feels great but I’m sorry for Luciano paying at home and without much energy. He finished a match at 2:30 a.m. the other night.

“I had more experience at this level and more time to prepare, but what a tournament he has had.”

The winner added: “he may have been a bit stressed in the situation. I stayed focussed and in my tunnel vision. I did well.

Ruud said that a final with either Sinner or Medvedev will be a challenge.

“You have a guy who cannot lose and one how has won the title here (Medvedev).

“Both are incredible athletes. It is no easy task no matter whom it is. But I’m happy and proud to be in the Rome final for the first time.”

Ruud, whose former top 10 ranking has dropped to 25th, will return to the top 20 on Monday with Roland Garros starting next Sunday.