The Miami Open presented by Itau draws to a close on Sunday and is set for a thrilling climax, as World No. 8 Casper Ruud takes on #NextGenATP sensation Carlos Alcaraz at Hard Rock Stadium.

[6] Casper Ruud (NOR) vs. [14] Carlos Alcaraz (ESP)

Casper Ruud and Carlos Alcaraz had something in common when they arrived in Miami two weeks ago – neither player knew what it was like to win a match at the ATP Masters 1000 event in southern Florida.

Five victories later and having dropped just a single set each en route to Sunday’s final, both players have rectified that record in spectacular fashion. On Sunday each has the opportunity to cap a dream run in Miami by clinching a maiden Masters 1000 crown.

After losing his three previous Masters 1000 semi-finals – all on his favoured clay – sixth seed Ruud broke his final-four duck in style on Friday with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Argentine Francisco Cerundolo. The Norwegian’s clean ball-striking off both wings has looked ready-made for the Miami hard courts but the World No. 8 admits to still being pleasantly surprised at his progress at Hard Rock Stadium.

“It was not where I imagined myself playing my first Masters 1000 final [on a hard court], but I will take it,” Ruud said after defeating Cerundolo. “It is a great feeling, and I am enjoying the city and the tournament.”

Of Ruud’s nine tour-level finals to date, eight have been on clay. Yet his 2021 season included quarter-final runs at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers in Toronto, the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati and the Rolex Paris Masters. Those hard-court performances helped the Norwegian qualify for the year-end Nitto ATP Finals for the first time and have quietened any talk of him being only suited to the red dirt.

“I think last year, when I reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, [it] kind of gave me a confidence boost on the surface,” said Ruud, who is the first Norwegian to reach a Masters 1000 championship match. “Because I never felt too bad on hard courts, but it’s just that my game seems to suit the clay a little bit better. My biggest results were on clay up until last year. I think they still are. But now here I have a final.

“Obviously the Nitto ATP Finals was kind of what topped everything when I reached the semis. That was a big result. Even though now coming into hard court tournaments, I think my mindset is a little bit different.”

This confidence has been on full display throughout his run in Miami so far. After securing his first victory against Henri Laaksonen in the second round, Ruud took out Alexander Bublik, Cameron Norrie and World No. 4 Alexander Zverev for the biggest win of his career before his triumph over Cerundolo. The Norwegian now holds a 13-3 record for the 2022 season, a tally that includes a seventh ATP Tour title clinched in Buenos Aires in February.

His next task is to stop Alcaraz from becoming the youngest men’s champion in Miami tournament history, but that will take some doing. The Spaniard has lit up Hard Rock Stadium with a string of dazzling performances to the delight of the Miami fans, the latest of which was his 7-6(5), 7-6(2) win over defending Hubert Hurkacz on Friday evening.

“I have a lot of emotions right now,” said Alcaraz after battling past the Pole to reach the biggest final of his young career. “It’s something that you dream of when you are a child. It’s really good to be in the final here in Miami. I love playing here. The crowd is amazing. I’m going to approach the final like a first round, trying to mask the nerves. I’m going to enjoy it, it’s going to be a great final.”

The Spaniard may still be a month shy of his 19th birthday, but he already appears at ease on the big stage. Even disappointments such as his three-set semi-final defeat to Rafael Nadal at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells in March will stand him in good stead, the Spaniard believes.

“It was a great match against Rafa,” said Alcaraz after his win over Hurkacz on Friday. “I think that I played a great match against him. But I think that I learned how to play in a semi-final in a Masters 1000. It was my first one, so now [in the] second one I managed to do much better than in Indian Wells.

“It was different match, but I think that the nerves, the tough moments, I managed better in this one than Indian Wells.”

Alcaraz has certainly shown he can handle pressure throughout his Miami run. The 14th seed has been broken just twice in the tournament so far, saving 15 break points across his wins over Marton Fucsovics, Marin Cilic, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Miomir Kecmanovic and Hurkacz.

Alcaraz’s form in Miami has only been a continuation of a red-hot start to 2022 that included a maiden ATP 500 title claimed in Rio de Janeiro in February. The Hurkacz win took the reigning Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals champion to a 17-2 record for the season, and he will move from his current ranking of No. 16 to the brink of the Top 10 in Monday’s edition of the ATP Rankings regardless of the result on Sunday.

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Like the rest of the tennis world, Ruud has been impressed by Alcaraz’s mature displays. “I think we all can see like how talented he is, that he has a very good mind for tennis,” said the Norweigan. “He understands the game very well. He knows when to hit certain shots and when probably not to.”

The Spaniard leads the pair’s ATP Head2Head series 1-0 after upsetting Ruud in straight sets at the ATP 250 event in Marbella a year ago. Alcaraz has spoken openly about the physical improvements he has made since then and has produced some stunning all-court tennis in Miami, but Ruud nonetheless remains confident that he can be the one to end the youngster’s dream run.

“He is, at his highest level, very, very good, but he also plays high risk, I think, so he goes for the shots quite often,” Ruud said when asked about his opponent in Sunday’s final. “Hopefully if I play him he will miss a couple of those.

“I played him last year. I think he played a very good match. You know, I barely had any chance at all, I felt like, so I would try to seek revenge of course. He was just coming out firing flames at me. I will try to use that and think I would like to get some revenge.”

Daniil Medvedev will miss at least the start of the clay-court season after announcing on Saturday that he will be out of action for the next one to two months. The 25-year-old has undergone a minor procedure to fix a “small hernia” that he has been playing with in recent months.

Medvedev, who posted a photo of himself watching football while recovering, said he “will work hard to back on court soon”.

The 25-year-old made his debut at Wold No. 1 in the ATP Rankings on 28 February, but ceded the top spot back to Novak Djokovic following an early exit at Indian Wells. He fell one victory short of reclaiming the position with a quarter-final exit in Miami, though he left South Florida happy with the direction of his tennis.

Medvedev has few points to defend during the spring clay season. He reached the Roland Garros quarter-finals in 2021, losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas, but managed just one win between the Madrid and Rome ATP Masters 1000 events. Those were his only clay-court events last spring.

Hi everyone. The last months I have been playing with a small hernia. Together with my team I have decided to have a small procedure done to fix the problem. I will likely be out for the next 1 – 2 months and will work hard to be back on court soon. Thanks for all the support.

— Daniil Medvedev (@DaniilMedwed) April 2, 2022

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has caused untold disruption to the lives of millions, but heart-warming stories of humanitarian efforts continue to emerge from the most difficult of circumstances.

The Premier Tennis Club in the city of Kremenchuk, situated in Poltava Oblast in central Ukraine, is one such example. The club, which hosted a Davis Cup tie between Ukraine and Slovakia in 2013 and has also been the venue for several ITF Futures events, is currently providing shelter for around 50 people displaced by the conflict.

“All the people were coming by train from the parts [of Ukraine] that are really dangerous to stay, [such as] the cities of Kharkiv and Mariupol,” Vitaliy Sachko, the Ukrainian World No. 222, told ATPTour.com this week. Sachko’s father, Dmytro, opened the club with a friend in 2010. “There were some groups in the city that were helping all the people and asking everybody who can help with the food, who can help the people [find somewhere] to stay.”

^{Photo Credit: Premier Tennis Club}

Dmytro immediately raised his hand to help, despite being based in the Czech Republic, where the family moved when Sachko was eight years old. “We told them we have a tennis club [in Kremenchuk] and people that had lost their homes were happy for any kind of help,” said Sachko.

The sheer number arriving in Kremenchuk means the tennis club has been an invaluable sanctuary to many, no matter how long they plan to stay. “Some people were staying for one night and then travelling to Europe,” explained Sachko. “Some were staying for a couple of days and going to the west of Ukraine, some are waiting until the war is over so they can get back to their homes.

“There are still people that need a place to stay, but [the club] cannot take any more people because everything is full.”

Space may be limited but there is no shortage of local people willing to help. “[Organising things] has not been a big problem because the volunteers are helping us to get beds and blankets,” said Sachko. “They can find even more beds. [It’s all about] the financial part. It’s tough to pay for all the people because they are taking showers and we have to pay for the warm water. If you [look after] someone, you have to look after them [properly].”

With Dmytro organising from afar, the tennis community in Kremenchuk is taking care of things on the ground. “There are people from the club, volunteers that are bringing food, they are helping a lot,” said Sachko. “The wife of my father’s friend who built the club with him is there every day. If someone needs medical help or anything else, she is helping them and she is there with other people cooking for them every day. She is buying the products for them, so she is doing a lot of jobs.”

^{Photo Credit: Premier Tennis Club}

As for many Ukrainians living abroad, the personal effect of the war on Sachko and his family has been profound. “[My father] is so worried about the situation,” he said. “He wants to go back. He wants to support the workers that stay there because he owns the company, and as the leader of the company he wants to support them and say that everything will be alright, we’re going to pass through it, just this basic stuff.

“My grandmother – his mum – is also there so he wants to help her as well, because she is alone there with his sister. He is very worried, and he just wants to do everything that he can to help.”

Despite being based abroad, Sachko has long been aware of the impact the club has had on the local community in Kremenchuk, even before war broke out. “When I started playing, we had only one indoor tennis court in our city of 250,000 people, which was shared with football and volleyball,” he said. “So, in winter we basically had no tennis courts.

“That’s why my father decided with his friend to build a club together, to do something for the people, to make sport popular in our city, because everybody that was playing tennis was struggling and saying that if somebody could do this good thing for the city it would be amazing.”

^{Photo Credit: Premier Tennis Club}

It is only recently that the club was there for Sachko himself at a difficult moment. “I was practising there during the Covid pandemic,” he says. “Everything was closed but I could practise and at least do something, nobody was there. In the Czech Republic everything was closed, and we don’t have a court here. So that’s why we decided I to go and I was there for two months.”

Sachko is trying his best to balance focusing on his day job with assisting those in his homeland. “I cannot say I am so brave that I would just take a gun and go to fight because it’s a war and nobody wants to die, but I am trying to help as I can,” he said. “I find the first aid stuff that our fighters need, and I send it to Ukraine. I am volunteering [while] I try to do what I do best, play tennis.”

The situation has raised the stakes for Sachko every time he steps on the court. He reached his career-high of 220 in the ATP Rankings on 7 March, but now feels like every match takes on extra meaning. “Of course, it affects me in some parts,” he said. “Because you start thinking that my father was helping me financially all my life, and I’m so lucky for that and I had no sponsors.

“Now there is a war he cannot work, he cannot earn money, and I have to play better and put even more pressure on myself. I need to win more matches and move up the rankings.

“I really love playing tennis and I don’t want to stop this way. I’m going to keep trying until my body allows me to and it’s a lottery, you know? You never know which tournament you’re going to win and which tournament you’re going to lose.”

Carlos Alcaraz ended the 10-match tournament winning streak of defending champion Hubert Hurkacz to advance to the final at the Miami Open presented by Itau on Friday evening. With his 7-6(5), 7-6(2) victory, the Spaniard has reached the biggest final of his young career, going one better than his semi-final run at Indian Wells two weeks ago.

“I have a lot of emotions right now. It’s something that you dream of when you are a child,” said Alcaraz, who is one win away from becoming the youngest champion in the tournament’s 37-year history. “It’s really good to be in the final here in Miami. I love playing here. The crowd is amazing. I’m going to approach the final like a first round, trying to mask the nerves. I’m going to enjoy it, it’s going to be a great final.”

Alcaraz trailed 3/5 in the opening-set tie-break, but repeated his heroics from Thursday’s quarter-final win against Miomir Kecmanovic by winning four straight points to close it out. 

After erasing two break points at 5-all in the second set — taking his tournament total to 15 of 17 break points saved — Alcaraz controlled the second tie-break with help from some untimely Hurkacz errors. A drop shot at 5/2 set up match point, and a dipping pass attempt forced a volley into the net to close out the match.

“I couldn’t return his serves, but I knew that the match was going to be long sets like it was, 7-6, 7-6,” said Alcaraz, who dropped deep with his return positioning, in contrast to his previous matches. “At the beginning, I saw that I couldn’t return. I thought we were going to play a lot of tie-breaks… A little bit different [than my previous matches] with his serve, but it’s a great win for me.”

Hurkacz tallied one more winner than Alcaraz on the night, 23 to 22, but gave up that advantage by committing 37 unforced errors in the match. Early in the second set, the frustrated Pole shouted to his coach: “I can’t do my backhand.”

But this was far from a standard matchup of baseline blasts as both men attacked the net with regularity, a total of 47 times between them, with both posting a 70 per cent win rate. Alcaraz also hit 16 drop shots in the match, winning 11 of those points (69 per cent). 

In a match that did not see a break of serve, both men saved three break points, with each coming up clutch to fight off a pair when serving at 5-all. After failing to convert late in the first, Alcaraz provided a moment of good sportsmanship by offering to replay a point as he served at 5-6, 30/0 after an incorrect “not up” call. Hurkacz applauded the gesture but was not able to get a look in the service game.

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Brilliant sportsmanship from @alcarazcarlos03 in his #MiamiOpen semi-final vs Hurkacz! pic.twitter.com/fPl0dXWiIM

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 2, 2022

By reaching the final, Alcaraz moves up to third place in the ATP Race to Turin, with an opportunity to move up to second with the title. The World No. 16 improves to 6-6 against the Top 10, having won the opening set in all six of his victories and lost the opener in all six defeats.

Casper Ruud, another first-time ATP Masters 1000 finalist, awaits in Sunday’s final following his 6-4, 6-1 win over Francisco Cerundolo. Alcaraz is bidding to become the third-youngest man to win a title at this level, behind only Michael Chang (1990, Toronto) and Rafael Nadal (2005, Monte Carlo). He’s also the second-youngest finalist in Miami history, behind only Nadal, who lost the 2005 final to Roger Federer.

Alcaraz is projected to move up to a career-high of No. 12 in the ATP Rankings with his final run, and will reach No. 11 with the title. It’s a just reward for his red-hot 22-2 run dating back to the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals, including straight-sets wins over third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and 21st seed Marin Cilic in Miami.

Casper Ruud is thrilled to be through to his first ATP Masters 1000 final at the Miami Open presented by Itau, but he’s also excited about The Masters — one of golf’s four majors, which is set for next weekend in Augusta.

“I have always watched The Masters in golf, and obviously it’s coming up next week and I can’t wait for it to watch on TV again,” said the Norwegian, who has a separate Instagram account dedicated to his golfing adventures. “It’s fun, because I will probably be here in the country while it’s ongoing, in Houston next week at the tournament.

“I enjoy watching both sports [tennis and golf], and I try to watch a lot of golf, especially here in the States. You have your own Golf Channel, so it’s easy to watch the tournaments. It’s building up to be I think hopefully a good Masters next week.”

Ruud also shared that he’s played a a few rounds with Rafael Nadal in Mallorca, calling the Spaniard a “very good golfer”. The pair has yet to compete on the ATP Tour, though Nadal took the victory on the golf course.

“He’s a very, very tough competitor,” Ruud shared. “Honestly, a bit tough to play with, because he doesn’t say much because he’s so focused. Usually on the golf course you are laughing a little bit and joking around. With him, it’s no jokes,” he said with a smile.

Florida is known as a premier golf and vacation destination, and Ruud was a frequent visitor in his junior days, when he would stay at his grandparents’ vacation house in Tampa and compete at Eddie Herr and the Orange Bowl during the winter.

“I was never able to do too well unfortunately, but I always enjoyed those junior tournaments and was pretty much like World Cup for tennis in junior tournaments, to play the Orange Bowl and try to win it of course, but I was never able to do so,” said Ruud, who reached junior World No. 1 in 2014.

“Then we just stayed over Christmas… Couple of years I tried to play even some Futures down there in January in the Miami area. So I was still fairly young, but I haven’t been here too much like the past five, six years, because there are other places you are as a tennis player when you play on the Tour in those months. But I always enjoy coming back here.”