PERUGIA/STARNBERG, June 11, 2022

Two qualifiers have booked their spots in the semi-finals of the Internazionali Di Tennis Città Di Perugia| G.I.MA Tennis Cup.

Luciano Darderi cruised past fellow Italian and wild card entry Luca Potenza 6-0, 6-1 on Friday. The World No. 167, a winner of two ITF World Tennis Tour singles titles, didn’t face a break point and capitalized on five of his six own break-point chances to advance after only 58 minutes.

“I started concentrated and took advantage of it. In the first part of the second set he went up but I played my tennis and finished well,” said Darderi.

The 20-year-old, who was born in Argentina, will next take on Spaniard Jaume Munar. In a late-night finish, the No. 2 seed of the €134,920 ATP Challenger Tour clay-court tournament battled past fifth favourite Thiago Monteiro of Brazil 6-7(5), 7-5, 7-6(1) after three hours and 42 minutes,

✨Dopo un match incredibile di 3 ore e 42 minuti lo 🇪🇸 #Munar raggiunge la semifinale degli #internazionalidiperugia! 🚀

Buenas noches a todos! 🌙@ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/A1IfHfkbon

— MEF tennis events (@meftennisevents) June 10, 2022

In the top half of the draw, Maximilian Marterer continued his great run of form this week in Northern Italy. The 26-year-old German qualifier fought past home favourite Giulio Zeppieri 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Marterer struck seven aces and won 78 per cent of his first-service points to secure victory in one hour and 55 minutes.

The World No. 208 from Nürnberg will next challenge third-seeded Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry, who defeated Borna Coric of Croatia 6-4, 6-3 in exactly two hours of play.

“We played a very high level,” said Etcheverry. “I feel really relaxed here, I play better and better. There is a different energy, there is magic.”