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Russian star Danil Medvedev cruised to the quarterfinals of the ongoing Italian Open on Tuesday night.
Medvedev, currently ranked world number nine, outclassed Thiago Tirante in his round of 16 match by 6-3, 6-2 in a one-sided manner. On the other hand, Luciano Darderi produced a shocker, saving four match points on his way to a win over second-seed Alexander Zverev. Luciano was down 3-5 in the second set and then went onto save four match points in the second set tie-break and then won an extremely one-sided final set to spark scenes of jubilation at Rome. Luciano made it to the quarterfinals of an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time and also recorded his first-ever win against a top-10 opponent. "It was a very tough match," Darderi said as per ATP's official website. "At the start I was not feeling very good physically. At 3-5 in the second set, I was done. I think I had a small chance in the second set when I held for 4-5 and then the tie-break was a lot of pressure for him and me. It is not easy to play here because I am a bit nervous, but it was really nice. It was a good fight mentally from me," he continued. "I won because of the crowd. You cannot give up here. The crowd helped me a lot and it is a dream to be in the quarter-finals. It is the tournament of my life," he signed off. The 24-year-old has become the first other than Jannik Sinner to beat Zverev at a Masters 1000 tournament since Shanghai last October and his next round challenge would be Rafael Jodar, who at 19 years of age is the first teenager since Novak Djokovic in 2007 to reach the quarter-finals in Rome. (ANI)
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