Zverev Delivers Ruud Shock To Casper
Alexander Zverev delivered a reality check to Casper Ruud and his growing hard-court confidence with an overwhelming 6-1, 6-3 victory in the Western & Southern Open quarter-finals Friday night.
The Tokyo Olympics champion had too much firepower on serve and from the baseline, crushing 18 winners to seven and dominating points of five shots or less 32-17.
Zverev, who had not won a match in six previous appearances at this ATP Masters 1000 tournament, advanced to a blockbuster semi-final showdown with Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Greek dominates their ATP Head2Head 6-2 and defeated the German in a five-set thriller in this year’s Roland Garros semi-finals.
[FOLLOW 1000]Zverev, who has now reached the quarter-finals or better of eight of the nine Masters 1000 events (except Indian Wells), extended his winning streak to nine matches dating back to the Olympics.
Zverev was fast out of the blocks against Ruud, claiming two breaks to race to a 4-0 lead and wrapping up the set soon after for the loss of just 11 points. The Norwegian conjured a break out of nowhere in the first game of the second set. But Zverev, who has adjusted nicely to the lively courts at the Lindner Family Tennis Centre, broke back for 3-all and closed out the match soon after.