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Casper Ruud continues to impress on the red gravel in Rome and beat former world three champion and US Open winner Marin Cilic 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) in the round of 16.
Casper Ruud impresses at the Roma Masters and has played his way to the quarter-finals of the clay court tournament. Alfredo Falcone, LaPresse via AP / NTB
Ruud was superior in the first set, which he decided in just 34 minutes. Cilic rose strongly in the second, but the Norwegian did not let him break and decided the set and the match in a tiebreak with the help of a very good server.
– This is the first time I’ve made it this far in a Masters 1000 tournament, and it’s an incredibly good feeling. I am looking forward to the quarter-finals, Ruud said in an interview with Eurosport.
In the quarterfinals, there will be a reunion with fourth-seeded Matteo Berrettini, who two weeks ago eliminated him from the US Open in the third round.
– He’s a good player, one of the top ten in the world, and good both on hard court and on gravel. But I will remember what I did well against him in Paris last year and I will take the confidence from that match, said Ruud, who beat the Italian at last year’s Roland-Garros tournament.
– We met recently, but gravel is a slightly different surface, and I’ll try to take advantage of it.
Marin Cilic is out of the tournament in Rome. POOL / Reuters / NTB
Dominated
Ruud is now ranked ahead of Cilic, but the 31-year-old Croatian has both routine and important merits to remember. As recently as 2018, he was number three in the ATP rankings. Ruud still dominated the match from the start and won the first six points. After winning his first blank serve game, he quickly landed two break balls on the Croatian’s serve and broke to 2-0.
Cilic fought with precision on punches and didn’t serve as well as he usually does. Anyway, Ruud handled his server and came back very well. At the same time, the Norwegian continued to maintain his own service without any particular problem.
At 5-2, he first avoided a play ball and then got a ready ball in the Croatian’s serve. He took advantage of it with a good return on the 2nd serve, and Cilic hit far, so Ruud won the set 6-2.
In the first set, Cilic had 14 depressurized fouls, Ruud only one.
High
Cilic served significantly better in the second set and was also sharper on Ruud’s serve. In the third game he got his first two break balls of the match, but Ruud showed both play and nerve and won four points in a row. He was also behind in the fifth and eleventh games, but kept serving without following the path of two.
He himself came close to breaking Cilic’s serve opportunities in that set, and after the players held serve six times each, it was time for a tiebreaker.
With the help of several aces and a double error from the rival, Ruud went ahead 4-1. He acquired two match balls at 6-4, but did not take advantage of them. He secured a new one at 7-6 and won it on the opponent’s serve when Cilic knocked out. After an hour and 33 minutes, Ruud was ready for his first Masters 1000 quarter-final.
Hard program
Ruud looked much fresher than the opponent despite the fact that Cilic had rested a day longer than the Norwegian since their previous match. More than 80 hours passed between Ruud’s first two tournament games, but less than 17 hours after he put the match ball against Lorenzo Sonego, he was back in action.
– It’s a bit awkward with matches early Monday, late Thursday and early Friday. It’s a bit annoying, but we agree that it has nothing to do with it, coach and father Christian Ruud told Eurosport before the game.
