Luciano Darderi, who had already reached the biggest quarterfinal of his career in Rome, is now through to the biggest semifinal of his career at the Masters 1000 event after a dramatic 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-0 victory over red-hot Spaniard Rafael Jodar on Wednesday night.
Or Thursday morning, rather.
In a match that had already started late due to rain earlier in the day, the two waited out a smoke delay—yes, a smoke delay—with Darderi serving at 5-6, 0-15 in the first set, when smoke from the Coppa Italia soccer final, which was being held 500 meters away, made its way over to the tennis stadium. The players, and even the electronic line calling system, had visibility issues, and play was halted temporarily.
After eventually sneaking out that first set in a tie-break, Darderi let go of a 3-0 lead in the second set, as well as a pair of match points with Jodar serving at 4-5, and the Spanish teenager pushed it to a third set.
But after holding in the first game of the decider, Darderi broke again after a marathon 28-minute second game to open up a 2-0 lead, then cruised the rest of the way, sealing the victory a few minutes after 2am.