Casper Ruud beat defending champion Fabio Fognini 6-4 6-3 to reach the second Masters 1000 semifinal of his career.
Fognini saved a break point in the second game to hold serve at deuce in the second game. Ruud fended off four break points in the fifth game and held his next two service games. Fognini dropped his serve at 4-5 to lose the first set after wasting a 40-15.
Ruud went up an early break at love in the second game of the second set to take a 2-0 lead. Fognini had to save three break points in the fourth game before breaking serve in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead.
Ruud rallied from 15-40 down on Fognini’s serve to break serve at deuce in the eighth game earning his chance to serve out the match. The Scandinavian player sealed his win on his first match point in the 10th game after a net cord error from Fognini.
Last September Ruud beat another Italian star Matteo Berrettini to reach the Masers 1000 semifinal in Rome. He became the highest-ranked player and the first ATP Tour champion from Norway by winning the 2020 Buenos Aires title, surpassing his father Christian Ruud, who peaked at number 39 after reaching the 1995 Bastad final. He advanced to Grand Slam fourth round for the first time at the 2021 Australian Open.
“It was a tough match today. It has been a great week for me so far. I have beaten good players and today was a very big challenge. Fabio is the defending champion here and he plays very tricky. He can hit winners from anywhere and you really need to be ready for anything to come at you. I was happy with the way I was able to stay steady and make him play an extra ball here and there to force an error out of his play. It’s a nice feeling to be in the semifinals”, said Ruud.
