“It is a great feeling,” Casper Ruud expresses his delight as he continues his fairytale run in the Miami Open
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Casper Ruud
Casper Ruud reached his inaugural ATP Masters 1000 final on Friday at the Miami Open presented by Itau, eliminating Francisco Cerundolo’s magical run in the process.
Prior to his encounter against World No. 103 Cerundolo, the Norwegian had a 0-3 record in Masters 1000 semi-finals. However, at Hard Rock Stadium, the sixth seed put on an aggressive and solid performance to ensure he would not lose at the penultimate stage again, winning 6-4, 6-1 after one hour and 34 minutes.
“It was pretty brutal today”- Casper Ruud
Ruud has won seven ATP 250 titles in his career and reached the final four at the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time last year. Against Cerundolo, who was making his Masters 1000 debut this week, the World No. 8 used all of his big-match experience to his favour.
In his on-court interview, Ruud said, “It is a great feeling. I am standing here smiling. I have had three tough loses in my previous Masters [1000] semi-finals and I thought today was a good chance to reach my first final. I started a little shaky but I was able to pull through and raise my level when I really needed to.”
In their first ATP Head2Head clash, Casper Ruud outplayed Cerundolo in the key stages, pushing him from corner to corner as he broke four times to seal the victory. “It was not where I imagine myself playing my first Masters 1000 final [on a hard court], but I will take it,” Ruud added. “It is a great feeling and I am enjoying the city and the tournament. It was pretty brutal today. Very humid, which made the breathing a little tough.”
Ruud, who reached the final four after eliminating World No. 4 Alexander Zverev 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, will face defending champion Hubert Hurkacz or the new young sensation of Spain, Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday.
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Pritha Ghosh
(414 Articles Published)