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.
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Looking ahead to Saturday's semi-final, Zverev said, "The matches are not going to get easier. I think Stef is somebody who is in incredible form right now and he’s looking forward to playing this match as well because we’re right in front of the US Open. We should be playing our best tennis, and I think it’s going to be entertaining for all of us.
"When you’re in the semi-finals of a Masters, you’re playing your best tennis. I just feel like when I’m playing at my best, I can compete and beat anybody. But I think Stef feels the same way. The better player will win tomorrow and I’m looking forward to that."
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.
Ruud has now made at least the quarter-finals at four consecutive ATP Masters 1000 events he has played, including two in a row on hard courts in Toronto and Cincinnati. His showing this week in Ohio will see him consolidate his hold on eighth place in the FedEx ATP Race To Turin.
However, after claiming just five games against Tsitsipas in the Toronto quarter-finals and four games against Zverev tonight, the 22-year-old knows that improvement must be found for him to be a title contender at the US Open.
from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/3sybwWm
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