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Carlos Alcaraz may not have participated in his home event in Cordoba but that did not stop him from congratulating eventual champion Luciano Darderi.
22-year-old Darderi, who lifted his first ATP title in the Spanish city, told the ATP Tour that he received a congratulatory message from Alcaraz.
Darderi said the message came as a surprise to him as did not expect the World No. 2 — whom he called a "cool" guy — to be texting him for a personal milestone. He added that Alcaraz also began following him on social media after the Cordoba win.
“On Sunday night I got a notification that he had started following me and I had a message from Carlos Alcaraz," Luciano Darderi said.
“Although I've known him for a long time, since I was little, the fact that he wrote to me was something I didn't expect, to be honest, because he's such a cool, rude guy…” he added.
Divulging the details of the message in question, Darderi said Alcaraz led with a few positive words for his game before urging him to continue playing at the same level and achieve more success.
“'Phenomenon, congratulations, you are very great! Let's continue now,'” Carlos Alcaraz wrote, according to Darderi.
"I haven't been able to meet Carlos Alcaraz yet" - Luciano Darderi
Both Carlos Alcaraz and Luciano Darderi will be in action at the Argentina Open this week, with the former being the top seed.
Darderi, for one, said he was hoping to run into Alcaraz over the course of the week and say hello. He said that the Spaniard’s message made him realize that he was extremely humble.
“I haven't been able to meet him here yet... when , I played, he was training, but I hope to meet him soon and say hello," the Italian said. “With his message, he showed me how humble he is because he had no obligation to send me anything.”
Darderi, who won his opening match against qualifier Mariano Navone, meanwhile, is looking to build on his run in Cordoba. The Italian, who debuted in the ATP Top 100 after last week’s heroics, said the title has given him a confidence boost going forward.
“The week in Córdoba is going to help me sustain the career I have… to try to continue improving, to put together the tours more calmly, the results are going to come,” the youngster said.
