(VIDEO) "It was an involuntary gesture, which happened at a moment of great concentration and tension" - Darderi defends himself from backlash after snubbing ball kid

Luciano Darderi's fantastic run at the Rome Open has come to a very disappointing end after losing out 6-1, 6-1 to Casper Ruud in the semi-final. Despite this, the headlines have seemed to come ahead of the match where he ignored an innocent kid who he was supposed to walk onto the court with. The Italian has since responded to the situation.

The 24-year-old has exceled on clay in recent times. All six ATP finals reached have been on the surface, five of them ending in triumph. After losing in the Argentina Open final earlier this year, he added the latest title at the Santiago Open in Chile as part of the Golden swing.

He came to the European clay swing full of confidence but has only recently found his groove. Early exits in Monte-Carlo and Madrid were made up for with a fine run to the last-four on home soil. The most notable victory was against world number three Alexander Zverev. After surviving four match points, Darderi bageled the two-time champion ahead of culminating a crazy match against Spanish talent Rafael Jodar at 2am in their quarter-final clash.

He was into a first ever Masters 1000 semi-final, eyeing up the chance to reach a seventh ATP Tour final in the biggest match of his life.

Before the contest even started, Darderi would steal the headlines but not in the ways he would have wanted. Players have been walking onto the main courts with a kid throughout the tournament. That is what Ruud did, but Darderi seemingly did not get the message.

Standing in the hallway ready to come on, he strutted on with swagger in some blue-tinted sunglasses past the innocent kid. As Darderi wandered off, the kid awkwardly trotted behind him in a slightly embarrassing moment.

Many fans sympathised for the bystander, leaving Darderi being forced to respond on Instagram. He admitted that he was totally concentrated at the task at hand.

“I'm very sorry for not shaking hands with Camilla: it was an involuntary gesture, which happened at a moment of great concentration and tension on an important stage," he wrote. "Those who really know me understand how much I always have a human relationship with fans and respect for all the people who are part of this sport."