I was impressed by Daniil’s ability to put power on clay.
“Yesterday (Wednesday) evening, looked at our face-to-face, I saw that he had beaten me on the native of Oslo had never won a set, on grass (Mallorca 2021, outdoor (ATP Cup 2020) and interior (Masters 2021),” said the winner at the microphone Tennis TV. “The only surface on which we had not yet played, it was the earth, I said to myself: ‘Please, don’t find yourself at 4-0 ′”.
“I tried to use the surface to my advantage,” he added. “I think the level was very good from the two players. I was impressed by Daniil’s ability to put power on clay. Today (Thursday), I find that he has dropped big forehand strikes, to make very beautiful winning shots. He didn’t play in the way I expected. »»
No break conceded by Ruud
Faced with a 10th world player trying to support his strikes a little more than usual, the 15th responded with his perfect style for the ocher. Using his heavy shot – lift wedding and power – he sought to dictate his law with his forehand.
-Solid at the important points, Ruud dismissed the break opportunities he had to face-1-1-and converted two of the six that he obtained. “I was pretty good in key moments for breaking once in set,” he analyzed. “On paper, I should have lost yesterday (Tuesday, against Taylor Fritz, 4th in the world) and today (because he faced better classified adversaries).
I worked on myself, especially concerning the mental aspect to approach matches and tournaments
“I arrived here after a dry defeat in Barcelona (6-4, 6-2 in the quarter-final against Holger Rune, future winner),” he continued. “I worked on myself, especially concerning the mental aspect to approach matches and tournaments. I started this tournament by being a better version of myself. I have been playing with good intensity from the start. I was missing a little ‘fire’ lately, I have been happy to have found it in Madrid. »»
In the semi-finals, his second in the Spanish capital after that lost against Matteo Berrettini in 2021, Casper Ruud will face the duel winner between the heads of series number 20 and 22: Francisco Cerúndolo and Jakub Menšík.
Other posters of the quarterfinals in Madrid (Masters 1000, Caja Mágica, clay, 8,055,385 EUR, the results appear from the most recent to the oldest):
- Lorenzo Musetti – Gabriel Diallo: programmed Thursday
- Jack Draper – Matteo Arnaldi: programmed Thursday
- FRANCISCO CERUNDOLO – JAKUB PEOPLE: Programmé Jeudi
