Norway’s Casper Ruud has broken new ground at the Miami Masters after stunning second seed Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals.
Ruud, who had never reached the last four of a Masters 1000 event on a hard court until this week, battled his way to a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, win over the German. It is the first time he has beaten Zverev on the Tour after suffering two straight sets losses to him last year. In his latest match, the world No.8 won 79% of his first service points and converted two out of five break point opportunities.
The rollercoaster encounter saw Ruud drop the second set in just 31 minutes before he bounced back in the decider by starting with a three-game winning streak. Reflecting on his mid-match blip, he says an issue with taping on his toe affected him.
“I think I started great, like I have done in the previous matches. I started very well, and I got an early break, which obviously helped,” he said.
“The second set I was feeling a little, some issues with the taping of my toe. I know it sounds a little bit silly maybe, but it was slipping off my toe, so it was a little uncomfortable to move, so I just had to redo it after the second set to keep it sticky again. Changed my socks and everything. It’s quite humid here, as everyone knows. I’m sweating a lot, so therefore I had to redo the tape.’
“Third set I was able to move a little bit better and freely. Got an early break in the third as well and was able to serve it out.”
It is the fifth time in Ruud’s career he has beaten a top 10 opponent with Zverev being the highest-ranked player he has gotten the better of. In the past he has also scored wins over Andrey Rublev, Matteo Berrettini, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Diego Schwartzman.
The 23-year-old has only dropped one set in four matches played at Miami so far. Earlier in the tournament he also beat 30th seed Alexander Bublik and 10th seed Cameron Norrie.
“This is the fourth time I’m reaching a semifinal in a Masters 1000 event and the first time on hard court so that means it’s a little bit extra special for me,” Ruud commented on his Miami run.
“Let’s see if I can take what I have learned from the three previous semifinals where unfortunately I lost all of them and see if I can turn it around and make the fourth time the lucky charm.”
Awaiting Ruud next is Argentinian underdog Francisco Cerundolo who is the lowest ranked player to reach the semi-final of the Miami men’s draw in its 37-year history. The world No.103 was leading Jannik Sinner 4-1 in his quarter-finals match before the Italian retired due to a foot blister. Cerundolo, who has also beaten Frances Tiafoe and Gael Monfils, is the first player to reach a Masters 1000 semi-final on his debut since Jerzy Janowicz back in 2012.
“I have never played against him and I haven’t watched him play too much, to be honest,” Ruud said of Cerundolo.
“But obviously he’s had a great climb in the ranking in the past two, three years. When I was a junior, he’s the same age as me, no one really heard about him because he didn’t play too much in the juniors.’
“He’s in a good flow, so my job will of course be to try to stop him. Let’s see if I can, let’s see if I can’t, but I will give my best as always.”
Ruud has won seven ATP titles so far in his career with only one of those being on a hard court.
