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Casper Ruud (21) lost the semifinal against Andrej Rublev (22) at the ATP 500 tournament in Hamburg in straight sets 4-6, 2-6.
Ruud received physical therapy during the break between the first and second sets. Treatment focused on the 21-year-old’s right shoulder and arm.
In the second set, the Snarøya boy was far from his best, and when Rublev played hard there was never any doubt.
– It was a very tough game. It could easily have been the opposite result, but I was a bit lucky, and then I am very happy with my performance, says Rublev in an interview shown on Eurosport.
He followed with a more polite compliment from his opponent:
– Casper has done a fantastic job this week and last week in Rome. He’s really at a high level now, and I wish him luck at Roland Garros.
Big load
However, arm problems may be bad news before the Roland Garros tournament begins this week, this fall’s big goal for Ruud.
The Snarøya gravel specialist has been playing a lot of tennis lately. It is stressful on the shoulders. He came a long way at the ATP 1000 tournament in Rome, where he lost to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.
When the world rankings are released on Monday, the Norwegian will be number 25.
The Norwegian tennis hope never found its best against the Russian, even though it was fine at first. He lost the first set 4-6 and broke in his first two service games in the second. Ruud managed to bounce back in one game, but then with the help of two double-service errors from the Russian opponent.
When Rublev broke to 5-2 again, he was able to take the set at home, and in the second match the Russian succeeds.
In particular, it might appear that the Norwegian right-wing cannon did not get the servers down. Therefore, he never managed to pressure the opponent.
SATISFIED: Andrej Rublev after the game. Photo: Cathrin Mueller
Half a million
Ruud receives 512,000 crowns in prizes to reach the semi-finals of the tournament.
Rublev, number 14 in the world rankings, also eliminated Ruud from the Hamburg tournament last year. Then in the second round.
Now Rublev can win 7.2 million rubles in the final. The winner will receive 79,330 euros, approximately 885,000 crowns.
