Casper Ruud broke new ground Friday at the Miami Open presented by Itau as he reached his first ATP Masters 1000 final, ending Francisco Cerundolo’s dream run in the process.

The Norwegian held a 0-3 record in semi-finals at Masters 1000 level heading into his match against World No. 103 Cerundolo. However, the sixth seed produced an aggressive and consistent display on Hard Rock Stadium to ensure he would not fall at the penultimate stage again, triumphing 6-4, 6-1 after one hour and 34 minutes.

“It was not where I imagine myself playing my first Masters 1000 final [on a hard court], but I will take it,” Ruud said in his on-court interview. “It is a great feeling and I am enjoying the city and the tournament. It was pretty brutal today. Very humid, which made the breathing a little tough.”

Ruud has captured seven ATP 250 crowns in his career and advanced to the last four on debut at the Nitto ATP Finals last year. The World No. 8 used all of his big-match experience to his advantage against Cerundolo, who was making his Masters 1000 debut this week.

Cerundolo held a 0-2 tour-level record on hard courts when he arrived in Flordia, but he has had enjoyed a fairytale journey in Miami. The 23-year-old overcame Tallon Griekspoor, Reilly Opelka (second-set retirement), Gael Monfils, Frances Tiafoe and Jannik Sinner (first-set retirement due to foot blisters) en route to the last four.

However, Ruud outplayed Cerundolo in the crucial moments in their first ATP Head2Head meeting, pulling Cerundolo from corner to corner as he broke four times to seal victory.

“It is a great feeling. I am standing here smiling,” Ruud said. “I have had three tough loses in my previous Masters [1000] semi-finals and I thought today was a good chance to reach my first final. I started a little shaky but I was able to pull through and raise my level when I really needed to.”

The Norwegian’s dominance in the second set was demonstrated by the Balance of Power, Tennis Data Innovation’s new analysis tool. During that second stanza, the metric shows that Ruud played 31 per cent of his shots in attack, compared to 17 per cent for his opponent. In the opening set, the Balance of Power was locked at 18 per cent.

Ruud, who earned the biggest win of his career by ATP Ranking when he eliminated World No. 4 Alexander Zverev 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 to reach the last four, will face reigning Miami champion Hubert Hurkacz or #NextGenATP Spaniard in the championship match on Sunday.

Ruud, who advanced to the semi-finals at Masters 1000 clay-court events in Rome (2020), Monte-Carlo (2021) and Madrid (2021), is aiming to capture his second tour-level title of the season this week, having lifted the title in Buenos Aires in February.

With his victory over Cerundolo, Norway has become the 33rd country to be represented in a Masters 1000 final. Ruud is also the first Scandinavian to advance to a final at this level since Swede Robin Soderling in Paris in 2010.

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In a lively start, breaks were exchanged as both players tried to find their range and brush aside early nerves. Having settled, Ruud began to impose himself on Cerundolo with his water-tight groundstrokes. He hit with great precision and was eventually awarded for his patience in the 10th game of the set when Cerundolo fired long to hand Ruud the lead.

Fuelled with confidence, Ruud put his foot down in the second set as he forced Cerundolo to overhit by striking with great depth. The Norwegian saved all four break points he faced in the set and secured his victory on serve after sucking the energy out of the Argentine with his intensity.

Cerundolo was the first player to reach the semi-finals on his debut at this level since Pole Jerzy Janowicz advanced to the title match in Paris in 2012. The World No. 103 was also the lowest-ranked Miami semi-finalist in the tournament’s history (1985-2019, 2021-22).

Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares have claimed 12 tour-level titles as a duo since 2016. But when it comes to cooking skills, they might struggle to come up with a baker’s dozen worth of meals to put on the menu.

The successful British/Brazilian pairing nonetheless enjoys a wide array of cuisine and in this edition of The Tour – Food Court, ATPTour.com caught up with the doubles stars to grill them on a few of their favourites.

If you were having some buddies over for dinner, what would you cook and why?
Bruno: I don’t cook. I would order sushi because it’s my favourite food. I just love sushi, been eating sushi for a long time. It’s a big part of my diet. I think it just goes well with sports. It’s nice, healthy and light. I love it.

Jamie: I would do barbecue because that’s about the only thing I can manage. I would do steak, for sure, picanha.

Would you call yourself a good cook?
Jamie: Not at all. My wife’s an amazing cook, she cooks all the time. I just eat it.

Bruno: Jamie’s an amazing eater! (Laughs.)

Jamie: That’s my strength.

Bruno, do you have anything in your repertoire in the kitchen?
Bruno: I actually do a decent barbecue as well. That’s pretty much all I can manage. Also some very basic stuff, eggs, omelettes. Anything more complicated, I’m a no-go.

We talked about sushi being super healthy… How about the opposite? What cheat meals do you enjoy?
Jamie: I’ve got a pretty sweet tooth. Chocolates, desserts… I’d go all in for that.

Bruno: I have to control the sweets as well, like a good condensed milk, anything related to that… dulce de leche. I also like a good burger. But a burger is easier for me to control. Sweets are tough — got to keep an eye on that.

What about when you’re being careful about what you eat? Do you have a go-to meal the night before a big match, or the day of?
Jamie: The night before, as long as I get a good meal, it could be anything. It could be steak, sushi, Mexican, fish. I’m not really picky about that at all. It’s more just before we play, I don’t tend to eat things that are too heavy.

Bruno: The same for me. I think the night before, any good, healthy meal. Before the match, it really depends what time we play. If we play right after breakfast, like the first match at 11, I’ll just have my normal breakfast, which is an omelette, bread, maybe an avocado or something. And if we play after lunch, my lunch will be something lighter, maybe a bowl of rice just to get ready for the match. I won’t eat anything quite heavy.

What are your no-gos? Is there anything in particular you won’t eat?

Bruno: I don’t think there’s a food that I don’t eat, to be honest. I can eat everything. I try to avoid junky food a lot, or processed food, fast food. I feel like because I enjoy sushi so much, I kind of have a healthy diet most of the time. The other times I try not to go over the line too many times.

Jamie: Spicy foods, I can never handle that.

What about food from your country, your culture? Are there any particular dishes that you like?

Jamie: We’re not known so much for our food culture (laughs). I guess growing up I was eating a lot of salmon, Scottish salmon. Haggis, I guess.

Bruno: For me would be the acai for sure. This is a very Brazilian thing. I’ve been eating acai since I was eight, 10 years old. Super healthy, super good. Grew up with it. I try to have it every day.

It’s a berry from the amazon. It’s a fruit. There’s a lot of energy; it’s considered a super food. What we do is, you make a bowl out of it, and it’s amazing. It grows only in two parts of Brazil, in two states, and not even the whole year. It’s three months of the year that you can get it. So it’s quite an interesting process, the acai culture. I love it.

Jamie, has he gotten you into acai? 
Jamie: Yeah, I like it. It’s nice. It’s definitely a lot more common in the U.K. now than what it used to be. You don’t have to hustle that hard to find it. But I like it. It’s good stuff. 

Bruno, I understand you’re involved in an acai business? Can you tell me a little more about that?
Bruno: Like I said, I’ve been eating acai my whole life. And I’ve always wanted to invest in an acai business. Never really found anything until I had Oakberry for the first time.

I have a company myself that we have some investments back home in Brazil. When I started having Oakberry for the first time, I went there as a client, had my first bowl there. Really liked the concept.

Long story short, a couple of months after, we invested in the company. It’s been a great ride since we started with them. It’s growing quite fast. We finished last year with over 500 shops worldwide. It’s quite nice. Oakberry is part of my life now, a lot. Not only business-wise, but my diet as well.

Are you involved in the day-to-day operations?
Bruno: I’m pretty hands-on. Not day to day on the company’s daily routine. But I’m quite involved in specific projects that we do together to help the company grow.

With college basketball’s March Madness down to the final four in the U.S., so too is the second leg of the March Masters at the Miami Open presented by Itau. Defending champion Hubert Hurkacz bounced top seed Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals to keep his repeat bid alive, while Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud and Francisco Cerundolo are still on course for a first ATP Masters 1000 title. 

Friday’s singles semi-finals are the only men’s matches on the schedule on Day 10 in Miami.

View Schedule | View Singles Draw | View Doubles Draw

[8] Hubert Hurkacz (POL) vs. [14] Carlos Alcaraz (ESP)

Hurkacz rides a 10-match winning streak into this semi-final showdown as he prepares to face one of the ATP Tour’s hottest players under the Miami sun. The Pole has won three tie-breaks en route to the last four, dropping just one set — to 29th seed Aslan Karatsev — on his way. The 25-year-old seemingly can’t lose in Miami, as he’s also through to Saturday’s doubles final alongside partner John Isner.

Hukacz is thriving under the slow conditions in South Florida, and the same can be said for Carlos Alcaraz, who nurtured his game on Spain’s clay courts in his youth. Though he’s played just one match in Hard Rock Stadium, the fiery 18-year-old has quickly become a fan favourite in Miami as he’s powered through Marin Cilic, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Miomir Kecmanovic to reach back-to-back Masters 1000 semi-finals following his Indian Wells run.

“I think that I’m playing in Spain,” Alcaraz said of the stadium crowd’s support in his 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(5) quarter-final win over Kecmanovic. “It’s unbelievable. The energy that they push to me, it was crazy. I think without them it would not be possible to get into the semi-final today.”

Hurkacz also made sure to give some love to the crowd following his 7-6(7), 6-3 win over Medvedev — a result that denied Medvedev the chance to reclaim the top spot in the ATP Rankings, and improved Hurkacz to 4-0 against Top 10 opponents in Miami.

“I love the atmosphere here. I don’t know. Just feels so good and playing my good tennis here,” the Pole said. “Definitely enjoy the full crowds here this year.”

The pair will open their ATP Head2Head account when they meet on Friday evening, with no rest day following their quarter-final wins. Alcaraz, now 16-2 on the season, is bidding for his second ATP Tour title of 2022 following his Rio de Janeiro crown in February. Hurkacz enters at 14-5, his best prior result coming in a semi-final run in Dubai. The World No. 10 could become the fifth man to repeat in Miami, following Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras. 

Alcaraz, already the third-youngest semi-finalist at the event, could become the youngest champion in its 37-year history. Only two men have won an ATP Masters 1000 title at a younger age — Michael Chang (1990, Toronto) and Rafael Nadal (2005, Monte Carlo) were also 18 on their first triumphs. Alcaraz turns 19 on May 5.

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[6] Casper Ruud (NOR) vs. Francisco Cerundolo (ARG)

Sixth seed Casper Ruud and Argentine Francisco Cerundolo will both be aiming to reach their first ATP Masters 1000 final when they face off on Friday.

Norwegian star Ruud will enter the clash with far more big-match experience, having captured seven tour-level titles and competed in three Masters 1000 semi-finals before.

However, Cerdundolo has flourished as the underdog on his Masters 1000 debut in Florida. The 23-year-old, who triumphed at an ATP Challenger Tour event in January, has scored sizeable wins this week over Tallon Griekspoor, Reilly Opelka (second-set retirement), Gael Monfils, Frances Tiafoe and Jannik Sinner (first-set retirement due to foot blisters).

“It means a lot [to advance],” Cerundolo said after reaching the semi-finals. “It is everything I have dreamed of. My first Masters 1000, my first semi-final, I might rise to near No. 50 [in the ATP Rankings]. This is going to change everything for me.”

Cerundolo arrived in Miami holding a 0-2 tour-level record on hard courts, but the World No. 103 now looks at home on the surface. His fairytale run means he is the lowest-ranked men’s singles semi-finalist in tournament history (1985-2019, 2021-22) and the first player to reach the singles semi-finals on his Masters 1000 debut since Jerzy Janowicz advanced to the final at the Rolex Paris Masters in 2012.

If the Argentine wants to match Janowicz’s achievement he will have to overcome World No. 8 Ruud in what will be the first ATP Head2Head meeting between the pair.

The 23-year-old, who is making his third appearance in Miami, earned the biggest win of his career by ATP Ranking when he eliminated World No. 4 Alexander Zverev 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 to reach the last four.

“It feels good and it means a lot,” Ruud said following his victory over the German. “This is my first semi-final in a Masters 1000 on hard courts, so that’s a good feeling. I’m very happy to do it here in Miami.

“I’ve felt good the couple weeks I’ve been here practising and the matches have felt very good. I want to of course keep going. Today was my toughest challenge yet of the tournament and on Friday will be another big one. I hope that I can take what I’ve learned from my three previous [Masters 1000] semi-finals and bring it into Friday’s match.”

This week in Florida, Ruud has also dispatched Henri Laaksonen, Alexander Bublik and Cameron Norrie in straight sets.

The Norwegian has continued to make steady progress this year after enjoying a standout 2021 season, which saw him crack the Top 10, clinch five tour-level titles and advance to the semi-finals on debut at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.

So far in 2022, he has earned ATP Cup wins over Dusan Lajovic and Cristian Garin in January, before he triumphed in Buenos Aires. When Ruud takes to court against Cerundolo on Hard Rock Stadium, it will be the first time he has played a Masters 1000 semi-final on hard, having reached the last four at clay-court events in Rome (2020), Monte-Carlo (2021) and Madrid (2021).

ORDER OF PLAY – FRIDAY APRIL 1, 2022

STADIUM start 1:00 pm
ATP – [6] Casper Ruud (NOR) vs. Francisco Cerundolo (ARG)

Not Before 3:00 pm
WTA – [1] Veronika Kudermetova / Elise Mertesn (BEL) vs. [4] Cori Gauff (USA) / Catherine McNally (USA)

Not Before 7:00 pm
[8] Hubert Hurkacz (POL) vs. [14] Carlos Alcaraz (ESP)
Ekaterina Alexandrova / Zhaoxuan Yang (CHN) vs. Laura Siegemund (GER) / Vera Zvonareva

Carlos Alcaraz continued his run of torrid tennis with a 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(5) quarter-final victory over Miomir Kecmanovic on Thursday evening as he made a winning debut in Hard Rock Stadium at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

“I think that I’m playing in Spain,” Alcaraz said of the crowd’s tremendous support. “It’s unbelievable. The energy that they push to me, it was crazy. I think without them it would not be possible to get into the semifinals today.”

Alcraz was two points from defeat at 4-5, 15/30, and again at 5/3 in the tie-break, where he twice trailed by a mini-break. But he was brave and bold at the crucial moments, winning the final four points of the match and sealing the deal in spectacular fashion with a pushed passing shot on the dead run. The 18-year-old dropped to his knees in celebration after moving within two victories of his first ATP Masters 1000 title.

“Miomir was playing unbelievable,” the Spaniard reflected after his first meeting with the Serb. “I knew that I had to put a good level from my side. He had chances to win the match. I did a great shot at 4-5 in the third set, 15/30,” he added, referencing a fearless down-the-line backhand winner that helped him dig out of that hole.

Alcaraz’s imprint on the match was highlighted by his 52/40 winners-to-unforced-errors count as he looked for every opportunity to attack. Kecmanovic, who did his best to keep his opponent on the back foot, registered a 19/16 mark.

Both men were competing in consecutive ATP Masters 1000 quarter-finals following deep runs in Indian Wells, and the Spaniard has now equalled his career-best showing at that level by again reaching the final four. Alcaraz did not have a Miami win to his name entering this year’s event, but has now strung together four in a row to improve his record on the season to a red-hot 16-2.

Just as he did in a fourth-round win against Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alcaraz went to the drop shot at many crucial moments against Kecmanovic.

“The rest of the match I’m trying to hit the ball hard to push the opponent off the baseline,” he said of his strategy to set up those delicate change-ups. “The drop shot is good for me. I have confidence with that shot. In the tough moments, you have to hit the best shots that you have.”

Kecmanovic provided a stern test for the 18-year-old, who surrendered a set for the first time in the tournament. But after racing through the opening three games of the match and recovering a late mini-break in the opening tie-break, the Serb could not get over the line against the all-action Alcaraz.

After some early miscues, the Spaniard locked in early in the second set as he turned the tables on his opponent to take a 3-0 lead of his own. Both men were able to attack effectively on serve as the rest of the set did not see a break point, until Alcaraz saved one in serving out the set. A whipped forehand winner wiped out the opportunity and helped force a final set.

The deciding set did not see a single break point, though both men twice battled through 30/30, including in consecutive games late in the stanza. Alcaraz never led in the tie-break until match point.

Following the victory, he signed the camera for his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero and Ferrero’s father Eduardo, who recently passed away, keeping the former World No. 1 from travelling to Miami. 

Alcaraz will now have less than 24 hours to recover before returning to the stadium court to face defending champion Hubert Hurkacz, a 7-6(7), 6-3 winner over World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev earlier on Thursday.