Italian Open halted due to nearby Coppa Italia final in bizarre scenes

Luciano Darderi’s Italian Open quarter-final meeting with Rafael Jodar had to be delayed on Wednesday night owing to the Coppa Italia final.

The Italian domestic football showpiece took place at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome in midweek, which is situated just 500m from the Campo Centrale del Tennis, where Darderi and Jodar were competing for a spot in the semi-finals.

Rain delays meant that their last-eight clash didn’t start until 11pm local time.

However, their clash was further postponed owing to smoke from fireworks at the neighbouring Olimpico.

Inter followed up their Scudetto success with a further piece of domestic silverware.

First-half goals from Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martinez saw the Nerazzurri lift the Coppa Italia for the 10th time in their history and secure a first domestic double in 16 years.

As Inter celebrated a second trophy of the season, smoke descended upon Campo Centrale, forcing a delay.

Darderi complained that his vision was impaired, while the smoke also affected the cameras for the electronic line-calling system.

Once play eventually got back underway, Darderi managed to get the better Spanish teenager Jodar, who put up a fight until the third set as the former claimed a 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 6-0 victory at 2am local time on Thursday morning.

“I think this is the best win of my career because of the crowd and everything here in Rome. It’s my first time in the semi-finals – it’s a dream to play here,” the Italian said after his win.

“It was difficult because we started around 11, the court was really slow, and Rafa is an amazing player – so young, just 19 years old.

“I had my chances in the second set, but then he played just amazing. I just kept fighting, and I’m very happy about that.”

Darderi joins an illustrious list as the 10th Italian player to reach a Masters 1000 semi-final since the level began in 1990.

The 24-year-old will now face Norwegian Casper Ruud in the first semi-final of the men’s singles on Friday.

And the winner of their clash will face either Jannik Sinner, Andrey Rublev, Martin Landaluce or Daniil Medvedev in Sunday’s final.

Sinner is expected to go the distance and win the Italian Open for the first time of his career.

The world No.1 is also the favourite to win the French Open next month after Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from Roland-Garros with a wrist injury.