Casper Ruud claims to shine in the semi-finals at the clay court of Madrid, compared to his past two losses on clay to Novak Djokovic and Andrey Rublev.
The World No.22 faced the Kazakh veteran Alexander Bublik in the quarter-finals of the 1000 circuit at Madrid. Ruud won the match against the Bublik with a score of 7-5, 6-1.
Casper 🔜 Semis
🇳🇴 @CasperRuud98 d 🇰🇿 Alexander Bublik 7-5, 6-1#MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/3fDFHOsHNT
— #MMOPEN (@MutuaMadridOpen) May 7, 2021
The Madrid Open semi-final is the Norwegian’s third semi-final this year after Monte-Carlo and Munich. Further, it is also his third semi-final at a clay 1000 circuit. Therefore, Ruud believes this semi-final is a ‘third’ for him in so many ways that it might be a lucky charm.
Rudd mentioned, “This is the third time now; I hope that’s the lucky charm. The previous two times I lost to Novak Djokovic, then I lost to Andrey Rublev.”
Casper Ruud of Norway won the Quarter Final match against Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in the Mutua Madrid Open at La Caja Magica on May 07, 2021, in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Oscar J. Barroso / Europa Press Sports via Getty Images)
In the past, the 22-year-old faced Djokovic and Rublev at the last two semi-finals on clay, and Ruud lost in both of the matches. Casper played against Nole in the Italian Open last year, where he lost with a score of 5-7, 3-6.
Last month, Rudd faced the ATP seventh rank, Andrey Rublev in his second semi-finals on clay, but the Norwegian lost to the Russian with a score of 3-6, 5-7.
¡Semifinales!
🇦🇹 Thiem vs 🇩🇪 Zverev
🇮🇹 Berrettini vs 🇳🇴 Ruud#MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/auB8eY4oeg— #MMOPEN (@MutuaMadridOpen) May 8, 2021
Casper Ruud is up against the World No. 10 Matteo Berrettini at the semi-finals of the Mutua Madrid Open on Sunday, May 09. If he makes his way past the semi-finals then Rudd will face Alexander Zverev or Dominic Thiem at the finals. On this Sunday, the Norwegian will also play at the 2021 Internazionali d’Italia against Denis Shapovalov.
