Casper Ruud Storms Into His First US Open Semifinal And Reveals His Secret - UBITENNIS
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Casper Ruud Storms Into His First US Open Semifinal And Reveals His Secret

With his clear win, 61 64 76 over Matteo Berrettini the Norwegian throws down the gauntlet, and is still running for the ultimate goals: No 1 and US Open crown

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Image via https://twitter.com/ATPTour_ES/

Not too long ago many of us thought this cool, amiable solid Norwegian guy was mostly an excellent clay court player, a model of hard working, who deserved his good ranking, around tenth position. The way he outclassed Matteo Berrettini at the US Open, has definitely proved how wrong we were. Matteo did not come up with his best performance, but Ruud played an impressive match all way long.

“The first two sets went much better than I was expecting. Everything sort of went my favour. I was hitting all the spots, all the shots that I needed to. Matteo was maybe not showing the level he typically does,” said Ruud. 

“But I think the conditions were a little bit in my favour with the humidity and the roof closed. It made the ball or the court feel a little slower. I felt like I had more time than usual when I play against him. It was a little bit of advantage for me.”

Ruud dominated the first set, prevailing in all domains. Even his service fared better than Berrettini’s.

“I was really bad. I didn’t check my percentage of serve. I didn’t check, like, the stats, but my game wasn’t there,’ Berrettini admitted. “It was he worst day of the tournament probably in the most important moment. I fought through, but it wasn’t enough. I wasn’t feeling my game. I wasn’t feeling my mindset. I think he was feeling really good. Congrats to him. I told him. He also said he played unbelievable match.”

Like in his previous match against Davidovich Fokina, Berrettini was looking stiff: his mighty serve and forehand refusing to flow. Ruud was always in the control of the rallies, where he often caged Berrettini in the backhand corner. With his deep, spinning groundstrokes he was constantly forcing the Italian to hit from far behind the baseline, draining his energy, then not fearing to switch to the forehand, no longer hurtful. Ruud took the set 61, in 28 minutes.

The second set was like a scan of the first and Ruud had two set points to finish it off with the same score. Suddenly, Berrettini shook off the rust, loosened up and started hitting through his shots, finding length and spin with his back hand and his power on the forehand. It wasn’t enough to save the set, which he only partially recovered, losing 64, but the wind was changing.

Indeed, Berrettini broke immediately in the third set. Now Ruud was starting to miss shots. He appeared gripped by anxiety and was playing more cautiously and predictably.

The Italian rose to 3-0 and actually had won six of the last seven games. Now he was holding on in the longer rallies, and, in spite of being forced to hit from far behind the baseline, he was now able to turn them around with his forehand. His serve in turn was ripping Ruud’s racquet from his hands. Leading 5-2 he had two set points on Ruud’s service but missed a forehand and a return. Serving for the set, the score read 30-30 when he chose to come into the net twice after a kick second serve. On both occasions Ruud’s returning and passing skills proved their worth and the number seven in the world bounced back into set. 

Ruud no longer let the match slip from his hands, whereas Berrettini didn’t succeed in sustaining his momentum. The tiebreak resembled the first thirteen games of the match, and Ruud imposed his dominance once more in the tiebreak. 

“In the third set I was also a little bit fortunate to save some set points and come back and win it on the tiebreak, but very happy to win in three straight sets,” he said

This is Ruud’s second long run in a Slam this year. He also had to pull out of Australian Open the day before the tournament because of ankle injury. 

“Not playing a match in Melbourne was a little bit obviously disappointing, but I knew that when Paris came along I was starting to feel better on the clay, especially, and finding my form and was trying to think, you know, there are three Grand Slams left of the year, and let’s try to take the chances I may get.” He reflected. 

What’s his secret for success?

“During Paris, something clicked, and I feel like I, this year, have sort of figured out in the better way how to play five sets and knowing that it’s very different from playing best-of-three sets, and it often becomes much longer matches and a lot of back and forth.” He said. 
“Also sometimes realizing or knowing that you can sort of let one set go every once in a while to save some energy for the rest of the sets. So I think, yeah, I matured and learned how to play five sets better than I did last year.”

Confidence in his much improved game on hard courts is a key factor too.

“I’m honestly a bit surprised that I made it to the semis here, but I think I have developed my hard court game a lot the last year or two, and I think Miami this year showed me and I proved to myself that I can, you know, beat good players and reach later stages in big hard court tournaments. That has been a sort of confidence booster for myself.”

Anyway, who says that clay court players can’t target the US Open?

“If you look at this tournament, US Open, and a couple of players who have been known as clay court players, let’s say Rafa and Thiem, they have both won here, and Rafa has won it four times. When you look at the Champions Wall in the locker room here, you see there are many different players who have won this tournament. This is a Grand Slam the last 18 or 19 years that had more winners than the rest of them, because I’m not sure why, but there is something special I guess with this place. This year I’m pretty sure there will be new first-time winner here this year also.”

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Alcaraz Halts Sinner’s Winning Streak To Reach The Final In Indian Wells

Carlos Alcaraz earns the right to defend his title at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells fending off Jannik Sinner’s assault to his ATP no. 2 spot

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Jannik Sinner (left) and Carlos Alcaraz (right) - Indian Wells 2024 (photo Twitter X @BNPPARIBASOPEN)

All good things come to an end. Jannik Sinner was on a 19-match winning streak since his loss to Novak Djokovic in the final of the Nitto ATP Finals that included his first Grand Slam win in Australia last January, and appeared as the most in-form player at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, the first Masters 1000 tournament of the season. But as he faced Carlos Alcaraz in an eagerly-awaited semifinal, he was unable to continue his quest for the third consecutive title of the season, succumbing to the Spaniard 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.

The match was a face-off for the no. 2 spot in the ATP ranking that Alcaraz will still occupy next Monday regardless of the result of Sunday’s final, and this is a much-needed confidence boost for him after a disappointing start of the season where he was handily beaten in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open by Zverev and did not win any tournament during the South American clay court swing where he was ousted by Nicolas Jarry in Buenos Aires and had to retire for an ankle injury at the Rio Open.

The match, originally scheduled for 1.30 pm Pacific Time, had to be suspended for over three hours after only three games because of an unusual downpour. As the match resumed, Sinner appeared once again the perfectly-tuned machine that had been crushing opponents with metronomic regularity for the past weeks while Alcaraz was struggling to keep up with his opponent’s pace from the baseline.

The first set was smooth sailing for the Italian who cruised to a comprehensive 6-1 in 27 minutes: Alcaraz was tentative from the baseline and could not find the right position to fire his screamers and change the tactical discourse of the match. “Then at the beginning of the second set, as I saw he was making a lot of mistakes, I tried to be as solid as possible when I should have kept pushing instead – Sinner said during his press conference – and that’s what cost me the match in the end”.

While serving at 1-2 in the second set, a few uncharacteristic forehand mistakes started to dot his thus far spotless game, and that cost him the break that sent Alcaraz flying to a 4-1 advantage. The Spaniard then found the confidence to change his return position and make Sinner work a lot more on his service games, as the Italian struggled to find a countermeasure to the tactical shift in the match: “I kept doing the same thing over and over again”, Sinner stressed, and forehand unforced errors started to pile up to reach the burdensome number of 27 at the end of the match.

Sinner had the chance to find his way back into the second set while Alcaraz was serving at 3-5, but Carlos cancelled his break point with a laser backhand down the line that had the 15,000-strong crowd cheering on their feet.

The third set ran away very quickly from the Italian, who started touching repeatedly the back of his left leg around his knee. Sinner got broken again during the third game, and while going for a last-ditch attempt to recover a short volley by Alcaraz he tumbled to the ground slightly injuring his right elbow and arm. From there onwards it was just more mistakes by Sinner and a clinical execution by Alcaraz on how to take home a match.

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“It Feels Great’ – Novak Djokovic Marks Indian Wells Return With Milestone Win

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Novak Djokovic - Indian Wells 2024 (foto Ubitennis)

Novak Djokovic says he still has a ‘great feeling’ in Indian Wells after playing his first match at the event for five years. 

The world No.1 battled to a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, win over Aleksandar Vukic in what was his first taste of competitive tennis since losing in the semi-finals of the Australian Open. It was a far from smooth encounter for Djokovic, who hit 23 winners and won 83% of his first service points. In the second set, he was broken twice with the second of those occurring when he was serving at 5-6. Nevertheless, he battled back in the decider to win. 

This year is the first time Djokovic has been able to play in the Masters 1000 event since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After the 2020 tournament was cancelled, he was unable to play the next three editions due to restrictions placed on unvaccinated foreign visitors to America. Despite the absence, the five-time champion states that his love for the event is as strong as ever.

“It feels great to come back with the win. It’s been five years and the great feeling is still there. I enjoyed myself very much. Beautiful stadium. Great atmosphere.” Djokovic said during his press conference. 
“I was a bit nervous at the beginning. I haven’t played a match in more than five weeks. I thought the start was good. Then I think he upped his game.
“I probably lost a little bit of the momentum. We got into the third set, I thought the level of the tennis was pretty good in the third. Great points. He made me produce some really important points in games in order to prevail in this match. I’m glad that I was pushed, as well, which is important.”

Djokovic’s latest victory is his 400th in a Masters 1000 tournament. He is only the second player in history to have reached this milestone since the tournament category was introduced in 1990. The first to do so was Rafael Nadal who currently has 406 wins to his name. 

He could create more history in Indian Wells should the Serbian go on to claim the title this year. If he does, he would become the first man to have won it for a sixth time. Although Djokovic is refusing to get too far ahead of himself. 

“I would love to,” he said of trying to claim a sixth title. “Obviously there is still a long way to get to the title match, but it’s a good start.’
“I know I can always produce better tennis. Obviously very self-critical, and I think some extent it’s also important because then it puts you in the right mindset of wanting to work more and being engaged in the process of improving on a daily basis, or trying to perfect your game and right the wrongs that you’ve done in a previous match or previous practice session.
“So that’s what I’m going to keep doing and hopefully building my game as this tournament is played over 10 to 14 days, so it allows you to have the practice days also between matches, which then allows you to work on certain specifics in the game.”

Djokovic will play Italy’s Luca Nardi in the next round. 

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Carlos Alcaraz Brushes Aside Injury Doubts To Reach Indian Wells Third Round

Carlos Alcaraz is into the third round at Indian Wells after a three set win over Matteo Arnaldi.

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(@BNPPARIBASOPEN - Twitter)

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz overcame injury doubts to edge past Matteo Arnaldi 6-7(5) 6-0 6-1 at Indian Wells.

The world number two had to endure an aggressive opening set from the in-form Italian to reach the third round.

After a tight opening set, Alcaraz raced through the last two sets as he set up a third round showdown with Felix Auger-Aliassime.

The Spaniard had entered this match with injury doubts after retiring from his match with Thiago Monteiro in Rio De Janeiro.

However Alcaraz was very pleased with how his ankle held up as he moved on in California, “Honestly it surprised me. I felt great, moving normally without thinking about it,” Alcaraz told the ATP website.

“It was a really good match to realise that I am better than I thought. I think I played great tennis because of that. I had to change just a few things. I made a few mistakes in the first set… I had to put in more first serves in the second and third set, and I think that was a big key to improving my level a little bit, to be in the rallies — long rallies as well, to get the rhythm, and I’m really happy to get it at the end.

“But right now I’m getting better and feeling really, really well. But I think I have to get a good rhythm step by step. I think that’s the big difference between last year and this one. This [is a] really special tournament for me. I want to do it well. This is the first match playing high intensity and I didn’t know how it’s going respond, the ankle.

“I have to deal with it, but I didn’t deal with the nerves very well in the first set, moving differently, hitting the ball differently. My game is playing aggressive all the time. And try to stay calm and wait for my chances.

“When you get nervous, you don’t think about it. You don’t hit the ball as good as you want. You don’t move as good as you want. I think that’s the big difference.”

Alcaraz will hope for a good week this week as he defends the Indian Wells title as he aims to win a first title since Wimbledon this week.

Next for the Spaniard will be Felix Auger-Aliassime, who defeated Constant Lestienne in straight sets.

Auger-Aliassime currently leads the head-to-head 3-1 but Alcaraz won their last meeting in Indian Wells last year.

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