Cobolli and Darderi argue in Cincinnati: the accusation of fake injury and the cold handshake, what happened

It was not a fair play derby between Flavio Cobolli e Luciano Darderia match valid for the second round of the Masters 1000 in Cincinnati. In the end, Cobolli won, booking his ticket to the eighth finals (against Polish Hubert Hurkacz) by taking advantage of his opponent’s retirement at 7-6(4) 3-1. But in the first set, harsh words were exchanged between the two Italians.

Cobolli accuses Darderi

But what happened between Cobolli and Darderi? The match started with the 22-year-old Darderi who seemed not to be at his best, perhaps due to a muscle or stomach problem. The fact is that he immediately lost his serve and slipped 3-1 without scoring any points on his return games. Suddenly, however, the scenario changed, Darderi recovered, recovered the break of disadvantage and the match returned to perfect balance. Cobolli, perhaps surprised, got angry and accused his opponent of having pretended to be sick. The two did not mince their words and the umpire, the Italian, tried to act as peacemaker. Alexander Germani. “You think about your tennis and he thinks about his, this is what we want to do, a quiet game of tennis” the judge tried to mediate when Darderi asked him to intervene and then insisted: “Would you like it if I told you something like that, that I pretend to be sick? You didn’t tell him anything”.

The cold handshake

The first set was decided in a tie break and Cobolli won. In the second Darderi held until 1-1 before throwing in the towel at 3-1 after losing his serve to love. At the end the two greeted each other at the net in an apparently cold manner with Cobolli who reached his compatriot on the other side of the court to pat him on the back and apologize.