Casper Ruud defeated Luciano Darderi in the semifinals of the ATP Masters 1000 Rome, to advance to the final of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia 2026 for the first time.
Norwegian Ruud had lost in the semi-finals on three previous occasions, but he secured a 6-1, 6-1 victory in a match that was delayed due to rain.
"It feels amazing. I feel a little sorry for Luciano, playing on home turf and not at his full potential," Ruud said after the match, as quoted by ATP.
"This is my 10th semifinal in a 1000 tournament and his first, so I tried to use that experience, and I think I did well today."
With that win, Ruud is one step closer to winning his second Masters 1000 title.
The 27-year-old won the Masters 1000 event in Madrid last year. He reached the finals of all three clay-court Masters 1000 events: Monte-Carlo, Madrid, and Rome.
Also read: Zverev and Ruud win, Tsitsipas beats Bublik in second round in Madrid
However, if Ruud wants to win his 15th tour-level title and 13th on clay, he will likely have to beat world No. 1 Jannik Sinner.
Sinner is on a 32-match winning streak at the Masters 1000 level, and faces Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals.
Ruud dropped outside the world's top 20 after a quarter-final exit in Madrid, but will return to the Top 20 thanks to reaching the final in Rome.
Home favorite Darderi saved four match points en route to defeating Alexander Zverev in the fourth round to record his first win over a Top 10 player.
Darderi cemented his Rome appearance with a three-set victory until two in the morning against Spain's Rafael Jodar in the quarter-finals.
The five-time tour-level champion had spent nine hours on court during his first four matches and was nearly exhausted for his first meeting with Ruud.
