Luciano Darderi overcame Daniel Vallejo 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 to advance in Bastad, leaning on a dominant serving performance in the decider. The Italian saved seven of eight break points overall (87%) and converted three breaks to seal the win in two hours and 11 minutes.
The first set featured three breaks: Darderi struck first at 0-1, Vallejo levelled at 2-2, but Darderi broke again at 2-3 and held for 6-4. The second set went to a tiebreak with no break points, Vallejo winning it 7-6. In the final set, Darderi broke in the second game (0-2) and never faced a break point, closing out 6-3.
Darderi’s clutch serving was the standout: he saved 5/6 break points (83%) in the first set and 2/2 in the second, while Vallejo managed just a 40% save rate (2/5). The Argentine also out-aced Vallejo 7-4, though both players struck three double faults.