{"id":889363,"date":"2026-02-01T02:13:46","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T08:13:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/01\/friendship-tested-as-world-no-25-luciano-darderi-sees-red-against-good-mate-jannik-sinner\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T02:13:46","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T08:13:46","slug":"friendship-tested-as-world-no-25-luciano-darderi-sees-red-against-good-mate-jannik-sinner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/01\/friendship-tested-as-world-no-25-luciano-darderi-sees-red-against-good-mate-jannik-sinner\/","title":{"rendered":"Friendship tested as world No.25 Luciano Darderi \u2018sees red\u2019 against good mate Jannik Sinner"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Jannik Sinner has warned there is still room for improvement with his remodelled serve after setting another personal best in his Australian Open<\/a> title defence.<\/p>\n

Sinner sent down a whopping 19 aces to march into the quarter-finals with a 6-1 6-3 7-6 (7-2) win over fellow Italian Luciano Darderi at Margaret Court Arena on Monday.<\/p>\n

In contrast to his four-set battle with Eliot Spizzirri, in which he cramped and looked in huge bother under extreme heat, Sinner was in control from the outset against Darderi.<\/p>\n

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow<\/title><\/svg><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

He breezed through the first set and while Darderi made a more aggressive start to the second, the underdog quickly lost his way.<\/p>\n

Darderi smashed a racquet and copped a code violation for ball abuse, blowing up in the process of dropping the third game of the second set on serve.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is interesting here \u2014 that racquet cracked. He\u2019s about to play this point with a cracked racquet to try and avoid a fine,\u201d Ryan Harrison said in commentary.<\/p>\n

John Fitzgerald added: \u201cI think it\u2019d be worth taking the fine and getting a good racquet right here because this is vital that he holds serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Harrison asked what Darderi\u2019s thought process was, Colin Fleming replied: \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s any thought when you\u2019re seeing red. I think that\u2019s what\u2019s happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Darderi blasted a ball high into the air Fitzgerald said: \u201cI think he\u2019s just snapped twice.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old then required treatment on his injury and it looked as if Sinner would cruise to victory over his hobbled opponent.<\/p>\n

But Darderi showed fight and Sinner had to survive four break points at 4-4 in the third set, before sealing the match in a tiebreak.<\/p>\n

He was 0-2 down in the tiebreak before rattling off seven straight points.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very, very difficult,\u201d Sinner said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst of all, we are good friends off the court. It\u2019s also that difficulty to also put away.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like in the third set I had a couple of great chances and couldn\u2019t use them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen it got very, very tight, so I\u2019m very happy that I closed it in three sets.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tried to raise my level. I started off very well the match and also how I closed with some really important pressure points.\u201d<\/p>\n

Darderi might have needed time to cool down before speaking highly of Sinner after a fiery finish to the match.<\/p>\n

\"Luciano<\/picture>
Luciano Darderi was rattled by good mate Jannik Sinner.<\/span> Credit: Getty\/AAP<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Serving to stay in it in the third set, Darderi took issue with Sinner ordering a fan to keep quiet between his opponent\u2019s first and second serves.<\/p>\n

Darderi struck a double fault to hand Sinner his second match point then gestured towards the chair umpire to suggest Sinner was in the wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a bit of byplay here between these two, I think,\u201d Fitzgerald said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDarderi has a point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fleming said: \u201cYeah, just disrupting the rhythm a little.\u201d<\/p>\n

Darderi saved the match point but frustrations between the pair were clear.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting a sense these two might be getting under each other\u2019s skin?\u201d Fleming asked, with Fitzgerald agreeing there was \u201ca bit of tension\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou guys are reading that correctly,\u201d Harrison added.<\/p>\n

\u201cSinner\u2019s understanding that this guy\u2019s really coming out with everything he\u2019s got \u2014 there\u2019s a seriousness in the air and a little bit of small animosity building.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the pair smiled and hugged at the net after Sinner wrapped up the win.<\/p>\n

\u201cGlad to see a nice embrace at the end and a congratulatory message from Darderi there, and applause (from Sinner). Not easy to play your countryman,\u201d Fitzgerald said.<\/p>\n

Sinner\u2019s 19 aces was the highest single-match tally in the four-time major champion\u2019s career, an improvement on the 18 he fired in a second-round win over local James Duckworth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe put a lot of work in, especially with the serve,\u201d Sinner said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe changed a bit in motion and I feel for sure a little bit more confident.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like there\u2019s still room to improve, which is normal, but I\u2019m very happy with how I\u2019ve come back in the new season.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause at the end of (last) season I served very well, but now it\u2019s for sure a bit more stable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now on an 18-match winning streak at Melbourne Park, Sinner looked firmly in control during the first two sets against Darderi, who required treatment on a left quadriceps injury before the third set.<\/p>\n

But the world No.2 was made to dig deep and vary his tactics in order to seal the result as his countryman refused to lie down.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to go a bit more to the net and being slightly more unpredictable, which today I think worked really, really well,\u201d Sinner said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow let\u2019s see what\u2019s coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sinner will take on the winner of Monday\u2019s late match between American eighth seed Ben Shelton and 12th-seeded Norwegian Casper Ruud in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n

Read more Aus Open news<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Shayne Hope and Glenn Valencich
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jannik Sinner has warned there is still room for improvement with his remodelled serve after setting another personal best in his Australian Open title defence. Sinner sent down a whopping 19 aces to march into the quarter-finals with a 6-1 6-3 7-6 (7-2) win over fellow Italian Luciano Darderi at Margaret Court Arena on Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":889364,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24501,1246],"tags":[19329,7489],"class_list":{"0":"post-889363","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-friendship","8":"category-tested","9":"tag-friendship","10":"tag-tested"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=889363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/889364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=889363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=889363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=889363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}