Andrey Rublev dethroned defending champion to improve to 18-12 in finals.
By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, July 19, 2026
Photo credit: Nordea Open Facebook
Andrey Rublev dethroned the defending champion to rule Bastad again.
Rublev won 33 of 38 first-serve points and did not drop serve defeating Luciano Darderi 6-4, 6-3 to collect his 18th career championship on the red clay of Bastad.
The top-seeded Rublev won his first title since 2025 Doha and his second Bastad championship following his run to the 2023 title. Rublev is the 10th man in Open Era history to win multiple Bastad championships, denying Darderi his shot of becoming the fifth man to defend the title.
In a clash between the top two seeds, Rublev won 13 consecutive points on serve for a 5-4 lead. Rublev converted his second set point to break Darderi for a one-set lead.
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In the second set, Rublev broke in the second seed’s opening service game surging out to a 3-0 lead. Rublev threw down two love holds sealing his 17th title in 76 minutes.
Rublev raised his finals record to 18-12, while Darderi dropped to 5-2 in career finals.
Richard Pagliaro. Richard Pagliaro is Tennis Now Managing Editor. He is a graduate of New York University and has covered pro tennis for more than 35 years. Richard was tennis columnist for Gannett Newspapers in NY, served as Managing Editor for TennisWeek.com and worked as a writer/editor for Tennis.com. He has been TennisNow.com managing editor since 2010.