Jannik Sinner cruised past Casper Ruud 6-0 6-1 after 64 minutes to reach the semifinal at the Rome Masters 1000 for the first time in his career.
Sinner won 33 points more than Ruud and dropped eight points in his service games. Ruud faced nine break points and dropped his serve six times. Sinner fired 22 winners and 10 unforced errors.
Sinner broke at love in the first game of the opening set after Ruud’s loose forehand. Sinner held serve with a winner at the net in the second game before earning a second break at love in the third game to open up a 3-0 lead. Sinner held at love in the fourth game to race out to a 4-0 lead. Sinner earned his third break in the fifth game and served out the first set 6-0 at deuce after 27 minutes.
Sinner converted his second break point in the first game of the second set with a forehand winner. The world number 1 player held serve in the second game with a service game to build up a 6-0 2-0 lead. Ruud faced two more break points in the third game and saved them to win his first game and celebrated as if he had won the match.
Sinner won the first game on serve with a forehand drive-volley winner and broke serve in the fifth game to take a 4-1 lead.
Sinner held in the sixth game with a service winner and forced Ruud to serve to stay in the match at 5-1. Sinner broke at love with a backhand down the line return winner to set up a semifinal clash against Tommy Paul, who beat Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 (7-4) 6-3.
Sinner is aiming to become the first Italian player to win in Rome since Adriano Panatta, who triumphed at the Foro Italico in 1976. “It’s tough to say. I was feeling great on the court today. I think we all saw that. My goal was to try to understand where my level is at this tournament. It raised day by day, so I’m very happy about that. The result doesn’t really matter, but I felt today was a very positive sign for me. Everything can change in one day. It’s not that one performance can tell everything about my shape now, but I’m very happy. I think today everything worked very well. I was serving well, also returning well, and moving great on the court. I’m very happy about that and now let’s see what’s coming in the semis”, said Sinner.
