World No. 34 Luciano Darderi dropped down to the Challenger level and took the title in Genoa, but not without a very challenging semifinal clash. Alex Molcan is now almost back in the Top 200 after winning 12 matches in a row, while Giulio Zeppieri found his best form again on the quick hard courts in Shanghai. Elsewhere, Billy Harris finally captured his maiden Challenger title in Cassis. Read up on last week’s action:<\/p>\n
Luciano Darderi<\/strong> was a surprising late wildcard announcement and while playing doubles with his brother must have been a motivator, competing at this event so quickly after reaching US Open third round seemed pretty tough for the top seed. But after all, having already won 3 ATP Tour titles this season, he had the level to dominate most of the matches. The fighting spirit was there too as Darderi pushed through the draw despite coming quite close to elimination against Tom Genztsch’s monster +1 forehand in the semifinals.<\/p>\n Andrea Pellegrino<\/strong> wasn’t successful in a quick trip to North America (Sumter and US Open qualifying), but he can usually turn things around pretty quickly when back on clay. The No. 8 seed started relatively slow, only to start barely dropping games by the second round and quarterfinal. Still, the key win of this run was certainly the almost three-hour-long battle against Stefano Travaglia, which allowed Pellegrino to reach his third Challenger Tour final of the season (Estoril, Perugia<\/a>).<\/p>\n Darderi said one tough match for the week was enough and steamrolled Pellegrino in the final. The older of the Italians usually needs some groundstroke rhythm and when he locks in, he can hit as clean as almost anybody on tour. But he couldn’t get himself in that groove against the heavy weaponry of Darderi, who claimed his 4th Challenger title 6-1 6-3 and will reach a career-high ranking of No. 30. He will now travel to Asia for the hard court swing, while Pellegrino plays Szczecin next (he reached the final last year<\/a>).<\/p>\n Genaro Alberto Olivieri<\/strong> was seemingly dealt an impossible draw in Seville, running into 3-time defending champion and top seed Roberto Carballes Baena<\/a>. The Argentinian fought hard to fend off a match point to eventually watch his opponent suffer physically and retire in the third set. It wasn’t the last crazy win he picked up this week with a 0-6 0-2 fightback against Henrique Rocha and then another thriller he won from 3-5 down versus Vilius Gaubas. Oliveri had already reached a Challenger final this summer (Liberec)<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ignacio Buse<\/strong> has been on fire of late with an ATP Tour semifinal in Gstaad, Challenger semifinal in Cancun, and then his Grand Slam main draw debut at the US Open (was unlucky to run into Ben Shelton after qualifying). The Peruvian youngster kept it up after moving back to his favorite surface, defeating four Spaniards in a row to reach the final in Seville. Out of Bernabe Zapata Miralles, Pablo Llamas Ruiz, Carlos Taberner, and Daniel Merida, only the last of the four took him to a deciding set.<\/p>\n Buse took the opening set, but Olivieri was slowly getting a foothold on this match. With some really smart usage of the slice, he was able to set up for inside-in forehands and work the Peruvian all over the court. Especially after suffering an uncomfortable slip in the second set, the youngster had to respond. And that’s exactly what happened with Buse upping the aggression again, not letting Olivieri have as much freedom to dictate, and taking his second Challenger title<\/a> 6-3 3-6 6-3. He’s now less than 100 points away from the Top 100 and will be part of Peru’s Davis Cup team at home against Portugal, while the runner-up takes the week off before returning in South American challengers.<\/p>\nSeville<\/h4>\n