Marrakech
\n Darderi, Moutet race into Marrakech QFs, Trungelliti’s Top 100 tilt continues<\/p>\n
36-year-old Trungelliti in contention to break Top 100 for first time aged 36<\/p>\n
April 01, 2026<\/p>\n
Grand Prix Hassan II<\/p>\n
Luciano Darderi in action against Mattia Bellucci on Wednesday in Marrakech.
\n By Andy West<\/p>\n
Luciano Darderi<\/a> settled in nicely to life as a defending champion on Wednesday at the Grand Prix Hassan II<\/a> in Marrakech. <\/p>\n The top seed marched past his fellow Italian Mattia Bellucci<\/a> 6-4, 6-2 at the clay ATP 250 with a commanding opening-round display. Darderi did not face a break point and converted three of the nine that he earned, according to Infosys ATP Stats. <\/p>\n Picking up where he left off \ud83d\ude0e<\/p>\n Top seed and reigning champ @Lucianodarderi_<\/a> starts his Marrakech title defence with a victory over compatriot Bellucci 6-4, 6-2!#GrandPrixHassanII<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/ohNl62FIKp<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 ATP Tour (@atptour) April 1, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n Having won his first ATP Tour trophy at the final edition of the Cordoba ATP 250 in 2024, Darderi claimed his second crown in Marrakech a year ago. The 24-year-old has won three further titles since then (Bastad and Umag in 2025, Santiago in 2026), but is defending a tour-level title for the first time this week in Morocco. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very happy to come back here after last year,\u201d said Darderi after his 78-minute victory against Bellucci. \u201cComing back here is a special sensation. The first time I\u2019ve come back to defend a title so I\u2019m very happy to be here. I will try my best to defend it this year.\u201d <\/p>\n The No. 19 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Darderi has won 17 of his past 19 tour-level matches on clay. He will face Yannick Hanfmann<\/a> in the last eight in Marrakech, after the eighth seed overcame home favourite Karim Bennani<\/a> 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-2. <\/p>\n Earlier on Wednesday, third seed Corentin Moutet<\/a> made a similarly rapid start to his title tilt. The Frenchman defeated home favourite Taha Baadi<\/a> 6-0, 6-2 to reach his first ATP Tour quarter-final of the year. World No. 32 Moutet next faces a maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with Marco Trungelliti<\/a>. <\/p>\n Argentine qualifier Trungelliti kick-started Day 3 in Marrakech with a 7-6(4), 6-3 upset against fifth seed Kamil Majchrzak<\/a>. The 36-year-old is currently up 17 spots to No. 100 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings as a result of his run. On Monday, he could become the oldest man to break the Top 100 for the first time in the past 50 years. <\/p>\n