Alexander Zverev collapsed and suffered a surprise defeat in the round of 16 at the Rome Masters 1000 tournament on Tuesday, May 12th, falling to Italian player Luciano Darderi. Zverev, ranked third in the world, had four match points in his favor but ultimately lost in three sets after over two hours of play.
Despite being a two-time winner of the Rome tournament, Zverev couldn’t maintain his lead and succumbed to Darderi’s strong performance. The Italian player, ranked 20th, secured a spot in the quarterfinals with a score of 1-6, 7-6 [12-10], 6-0. This loss for Zverev comes after a strong performance in previous Masters 1000 tournaments this year, where he reached at least the semifinals.
Darderi, 24 years old, had never defeated a top 10 player before this match. He will now face Spanish player Rafael Jodar in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, top-ranked Jannik Sinner continued his impressive run with a victory over Andrea Pellegrino, equaling Novak Djokovic’s record for consecutive wins in Masters 1000 tournaments. Sinner will face either Andrey Rublev or Nikoloz Basilashvili in the next round.
/2026/05/12/6a0342676aa6e815999889.jpg&description=Tennis%3A+Alexander+Zverev+surprised+in+eighth){kind=link}