Ruud’s habit of reaching the semi-finals in Turin | Nitto ATP Final

The task seemed simple for Casper Ruud entering the final group stage match of the Nitto ATP Finals. A one-set win over Andrey Rublev will send him to the semi-finals of the tournament for the third time in his career. And the Norwegian had no problem with it: in just 35 minutes he won the first round and secured his place in the next round.

He later sealed the win 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 to continue his incredible performance in the group stage of this tournament. In both 2021 and 2022, the 25-year-old Norwegian reached the semi-finals with a score of 2:1 in the round-robin. On Saturday he will try to reach the final for the second time and first since 2022 when he faces local Jannik Sinner.

“I knew one set was enough to qualify, so I was a little nervous at first. When I won the first set, I could breathe a little. I stayed focused on the match and finished with a good third set.” – said the Norwegian.

While heading into the weekend depended on winning the set, the task seemed more daunting when looking at his history with Rublev, whom he came out against having lost his Lexus ATP HeadToHead 2-5. They also lost their last match against each other, played last year in the final in Bastad. However, when it comes to the Nitto ATP Finals, Ruud is superior to Rublev.

They beat him for the first time in the group stage of the 2021 tournament and for the second time in the 2022 semi-finals. Third place in Turin also fell to the current sixth place in the live rankings. He began to earn the credit by winning for the third time in this rivalry, winning the first set without facing a break point on serve and breaking at 3-3.

At this point, Rublev was eliminated, who would only qualify by winning in straight sets and by playing a higher percentage of games in the group than Ruud and Carlos Alcaraz, who were defeated in the afternoon by undefeated leader Alexander Zverev.

Even knowing he was eliminated, he continued to fight and even saved two set points at 5-4 in the 2nd set. Although he wasted it, he still scored 6-5 and sent the duel to a decider. However, Ruud soon regained control, shooting at 1-1 (and again at 4-2), and never let it go again until he sealed victory with less than two hours of play.

Now he will try to improve another rivalry, in which he lost to Sinner with a score of 0:2. In this case, he will reach the final with one of the toughest victories of his career.

“He’s been the best player in the world all year, playing at home and hasn’t lost a set all week. He is the player to beat this year and I will try my best. It seems this guy has almost forgotten how to lose. Let’s see if I can find something here to challenge. “I’ll be ready for probably the toughest match of the year,” he said of the No. 1 ranking in the PIF ATP rankings.