📸 🎥 TC Int'l
The third set brought out the best of both players' games, but how they handled the pressing moments became the most crucial aspect toward the end of this match. V. Kopriva somehow won the first two points of this set thanks to a backhand winner after a swift return set things up, but L. Darderi went on to win the next few points and held to 1-0 to start the proceedings. He then tried to respond through a working drop-shot to start the next game, but V. Kopriva remained solid and held his serves to 1-1 despite the first seed's best chances. This was also the case in the next game, where a return ace from V. Kopriva's forehand side set up another 2-point lead, but the Italian first seed still held his serves to 2-1.
In the next two games, V. Kopriva's re-drop-shot in response to L. Darderi's preceding drop-shot set up his initial break point, but even though there was another chance made thanks to a cross-court backhand winner, the latter scored a gigantic hold to 3-2 to close the game. There was a fourth-shot forehand winner from V. Kopriva that opened the ninth game as he tried to assert some scoreboard pressures, but L. Darderi still held to 5-4 at the end of that game, and this continued with the latter's backhand error that set himself a point ahead right before a third-shot error for V. Kopriva's initial break points, but the home favorite still held his serves to 6-5.
L. Darderi then began the next game with a forehand winner as he tried to assert more scoreboard pressure, but the tie-breaker became inevitable as V. Kopriva held to 6-6. Setting up the early mini-break through a successful lob to 1-0, the Czech's double-fault only equalized the point to 1-1 before L. Darderi's forehand winner set up his mini-break to 2-1. The former's forehand return winner then got him back onboard to 2-2 before his anticipative response to L. Darderi's drop-shot ended in the first seed's error to mini-break 3-2. Even if V. Kopriva's unforced error briefly put L. Darderi back on serve, the latter's +1 forehand error put the former back ahead to 5-4 before having a match point, which he successfully converted to take the third set 7-6(4) to claim the title.