One of the less pleasant off-ball moments of the Italian Open came before a single point had even been played in the semifinal between Luciano Darderi and Casper Ruud in Rome. Darderi walked onto the court wearing sunglasses for his entrance and walked past the young girl who was serving as his court escort without a nod, a handshake, or a glance. As he walked by, the child was standing there waiting, and then followed him alone. Ruud, however, had been extremely friendly with his own escorts, creating a greater contrast. The clip went viral, and most people online said that the moment was arrogant. 

The discomfort did not end there. During the game, the heckler in the stands shouted: “We paid for the tickets,” suggesting that the Italian wasn’t playing his full game. Darderi lost his calm and raised his racket toward the spectator in an apparent challenge or sarcastic gesture, inviting the heckler to play the match himself.

The exchange was met with a mixture of booing from the crowd and some noise, and was quickly picked up by social media.  Also, during the game, Darderi was seen walking past a blind ball kid waiting to hand him a towel, apparently lost in his own world.

The irony of the entrance theatrics was not lost on those watching. He had four match points against Alexander Zverev in the round of 16 and then battled Rafael Jodar for three hours and eight minutes in a quarterfinal that ended at 2 a.m. 

“I think it’s the best win of my career because of the crowd and everything here in Rome. First time in the semi-finals, it’s a dream to play here,” he had said after that win. The sunglasses entrance was, in that context, a player feeding off a week of momentum. The result, however, quickly deflated it.

The semifinal was over almost before it began. Darderi went into his first-ever Masters 1000 semifinal with severely limited recovery time and lost 6-1, 6-1. 

“Honestly, I was tired. I finished too late with Jodar, so the recovery time was a bit different. I was very tired. I’m sorry for the people who came to see me today because I couldn’t give my all. I didn’t have any petrol at all,” he said in his post-match press conference. Ruud, sympathetic in victory, acknowledged the circumstances. “He finished at 2:30 the other night, and what a match he had and what a tournament he’s had. Luckily for me, I was done much earlier than he that day,” Ruud said.

The run in Rome is still expected to lift Darderi to a career-high ranking of around world No. 16. The tournament of his life ended with a disappointing semifinal. Looking back at the entrance swagger, it was a story all on its own.