Luciano Darderi is turning EA7 into tennis’ next global style brand The stylish new face of Italian tennis

Luciano Darderi is the great protagonist of the Italian Open in Rome. Even more so than Jannik Sinner. The Argentine-born tennis player who became a naturalized Italian has stolen the spotlight with a series of surprising victories: after defeating American Tommy Paul in the third round, he followed it up with wins over Alexander Zverev (world No. 3) in the Round of 16 and then Rafael Jódar in the quarterfinals, in a match that became legendary due to the suspension caused by the flares lit after the Coppa Italia final between Lazio and Inter.

Luciano Darderi’s incredible run at the Italian Open

Thanks to this run of success, Darderi became the 17th Italian tennis player to reach the semifinals of the Rome tournament. Not only that, Darderi also deserves credit for reigniting Italy’s interest in tennis at a time when Sinner has become almost boring, in the sense that he keeps winning matches while demolishing every opponent in front of him, making it almost pointless to sit on the couch and watch one of his matches.

As if that were not enough, the Italian tennis scene around Sinner has slowed down slightly at the moment. Lorenzo Musetti was forced to announce his withdrawal from the Roland Garros due to another injury, while Jasmine Paolini, who in Rome was defending the title she won in 2025, was eliminated in the third round and slipped out of the Top 10. Darderi’s victories have given new momentum to Italy’s passion for tennis, which is now dreaming of an all-Italian final between him and Sinner.

Why EA7 is gaining momentum in tennis

Together with Darderi, EA7 has also taken center stage, perhaps marking the brand’s definitive rise in tennis. It is not as if EA7 was completely unfamiliar with the tour — quite the opposite. On the men’s side, the brand is represented in the Top 10 by Alexander Bublik, it partners with Matteo Arnaldi, and it has accompanied the doubles successes of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori, while on the women’s side it supports Lucia Bronzetti and Elisabetta Cocciaretto. However, Darderi’s success in Rome carries a different weight because it is projecting technical shirts with a zipper and a collar that has a zigzag design onto every television screen in Italy, every newspaper, and every smartphone display.

Luciano Darderi is legitimizing EA7’s role as a leading brand in tennis, specifically one capable of expressing a more elegant and aristocratic aesthetic, connected to the origins of the sport. This is a stylistic direction that the major sportswear giants no longer pursue, effectively leaving the field open to anyone willing to claim this portion of the market. EA7 feels perfectly at ease in this context; after all, since its creation in 2004, its mission has always been to bring part of the elegance for which the Giorgio Armani brand is famous into the world of sports. Until now, however, it had always lacked a moment of maximum exposure in tennis, comparable to the visibility generated by Italian athletes standing on the podium at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympic Games wearing the official EA7 tracksuits.

Comparing EA7 to Sergio Tacchini, FILA, and Lacoste

Now that moment has arrived, with EA7 potentially becoming the equivalent of what Sergio Tacchini and FILA were for tennis in the 1970s and 1980s. An Italian brand capable of expressing elegance, sophistication, and stylistic research even in a competitive environment such as a tennis match. The benchmark in this field is undoubtedly Lacoste, but EA7 has the know-how, the experience, and the enthusiasm needed to carve out a leading role for itself, perhaps once again riding the wave of popularity generated by Luciano Darderi in Rome.