ATP Tour

Darderi downs De Jong in Bastad, stays perfect in ATP Tour finals

Luciano Darderi again brought his best to an ATP Tour title match on Sunday at the Nordea Open, where the Italian held off the challenge of Jesper de Jong to clinch the trophy.

The sixth-seeded Darderi prevailed 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in an absorbing championship match to improve to 3-0 in tour-level finals. Despite a plucky performance from first-time finalist De Jong, Darderi held firm in the deciding set to add the Bastad ATP 250 trophy to those he won in Cordoba in 2024 and Marrakech in April.

“It’s amazing. Today I was really nervous from the beginning, even from last night,” revealed Darderi in his on-court interview. “It’s my third ATP title, so at 23 years old it’s really exciting. To be here in Bastad for the first time and to win, it’s unbelievable.”

Forza Darderi! 🇮🇹

ATP titles stacking up! 🏆🏆🏆@NordeaOpen | #NordeaOpen | @Lucianodarderi_ pic.twitter.com/lbm6qhUren

— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 20, 2025

Darderi won 81 per cent (38/47) of first-serve points en route to victory in his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with De Jong. With his two-hour, seven-minute win, the Italian became the third player to win multiple titles on clay in 2025 after Carlos Alcaraz (three titles) and Flavio Cobolli (two titles).

Having lost eight of his first 10 matches in 2025, Darderi’s good form since has helped him recover to 20-17 for the year, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. He will on Monday climb nine spots to No. 49 in the PIF ATP Rankings as a result of his title run.

Despite defeat on Sunday, the 25-year-old De Jong has enjoyed a breakout week in Sweden, where he upset three seeded players en route to the final. He will on Monday rise 23 spots to a career-high No. 83 in the PIF ATP Rankings.