With this win, Darderi continued his impressive run—last week he won the ATP tournament in Båstad, and now he’s on a nine-match singles winning streak. For Taberner, this was his first time reaching a final at a tournament of this level.
“The feeling is special. I’m happy—this is my second title in two weeks. I apologize to the spectators for being nervous at times; I’m usually not like that,” Darderi said.
One break in the first set and two in the second were enough for Darderi to secure the victory. In the first set, he broke for a 4–2 lead. In the second, he broke first for 3–2 and then again when Taberner was serving to stay in the match.
On the other side, the Spaniard—ranked 111th on the ATP list—never had a break opportunity. The Italian was dominant and closed out the tournament in impressive fashion. He dropped only one set in four matches, against Dino Prižmić in the quarterfinals.
“My ankle hurt in the morning—I thought I wouldn’t be able to play the final. As the day went on, it got better, but at 15–15 in the last game, it hurt badly again. I’ll see whether I need to take a break,” he said.
This is Darderi’s fourth ATP title and his third this year. He is the fourth Italian to win the Plava Laguna Croatia Open in Umag, following Fabio Fognini (2016), Marco Cecchinato (2018), and Jannik Sinner (2022). Spain, meanwhile, remains at seven players who have won titles in Umag.
“If I played this match again, I’d probably handle the conditions better. A lot of things happened here for the first time for me, and I’m leaving satisfied—I beat a top-20 player, played my first semifinal, and my first final…” said Taberner.
With the points from Umag, both players will of course climb the rankings: Darderi will rise from 46th to 35th (his career high is 32), and Taberner will be ranked 84th—his best placement so far.
