Ruud Takes Out Norrie, Reaches Maiden Miami QF

Casper Ruud has found a winning groove at Hard Rock Stadium.

The Norwegian completed his third win in five months over Cameron Norrie at the Miami Open presented by Itau on Tuesday, putting in a commanding performance to surge to a 6-3, 6-4 win and reach the quarter-finals in south Florida for the first time.

The sixth seed arrived in Miami having never won a main-draw match at the ATP Masters 1000 event but has now produced three high-class performances to reach the last eight without dropping a set.

Since a heavy defeat to Ruud in the San Diego championship match in October, Norrie has clinched a maiden ATP Masters 1000 title at the 2021 BNP Paribas Open and risen to the brink of the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings. Yet Ruud’s powerful game appears to be a difficult matchup for the World No. 12, who now trails the Norwegian 0-3 in the pair’s ATP Head2Head series.

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Ruud came into the match having dropped just eight games in his opening two rounds, the least of any player in the last 16, and he looked in good touch again from the start on Grandstand. The sixth seed was in control throughout the first set and clinched it thanks to a break in the fourth game.

The Norwegian remained imperious on serve and was helped by an uncharacteristically wayward performance from his opponent. Ruud took full advantage to break twice in the second set as the combination of pace and accuracy on his groundstrokes was too much even for the effervescent Norrie.

Ruud won 85 per cent (33/39) of points behind his first serve in the one-hour, 32-minute victory, according to Infosys ATP Stats. Although a late lapse meant he gave up a break for the first time in the tournament when serving for the match at 5-2, the seven-time ATP Tour titlist once again showed his first delivery is a weapon that could cause problems for any player left in the field.

A former semi-finalist at the Masters 1000 events in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome, this is the first time Ruud has reached the quarter-finals on a hard court at this level. His next opponent at Hard Rock Stadium will be second seed Alexander Zverev, who beat Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-4, 6-4 to reach the last eight. Zverev has won the pair’s two previous tour-level meetings, coming out on top in the quarter-finals of both the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati and the Rolex Paris Masters in 2021.