Luciano Darderi survived a smoke delay caused by fireworks from the nearby Coppa Italia final and then beat Rafael Jodar to reach the Italian Open semifinals. The Rome match finished just after 2 a.M. Local time and ended with a 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-0 scoreline. The win gave Darderi the biggest semifinal of his career at a Masters 1000 event and a place in the Rome last four.