Rublev beats Darderi for a second Bastad title, his first anywhere since Doha 2025

Nineteen. That is how many tour titles Andrey Rublev has now won. He beat Luciano Darderi 6-4, 6-3 in the Bastad final, his first title since Doha in 2025 and his second at this event, three years after he first won here in 2023.

Rublev arrived as the top seed and world No. 16, well below the career high of No. 5 he reached on 13 September 2021 and held for 38 weeks, with a season standing at 24-13. Darderi, the second seed, was defending the title he won here in 2025, ranked 18 this week and two places off his own career high of 16 from May, and came in at 25-15. Both entered the draw at the second round.

The final produced only two breaks of serve, both Rublev's. He broke to close the first set 6-4, then broke straight away for 2-0 in the second and served out the rest of it for 6-3. He faced two break points in the match and saved both; Darderi had two chances of his own and converted none. Rublev also played the match without a double fault, Darderi hit three. At the finish it took two match points: Darderi saved the first, and Rublev converted the second to close it out.

The win takes Rublev's record in tour finals to 19-13 and gives him a second Bastad title to go with 2023, his first trophy anywhere since Doha in 2025. For Darderi it is a second final defeat in a career that already includes five titles, Bastad among them from last year, and a runner-up finish a year after lifting the same trophy. The two have now met twice, and Rublev leads the head-to-head 2-0 after also winning their only previous meeting, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 in the Hamburg quarter-finals last year.

Match tale, 19 July 2026, sources: Swedish Open, api-tennis