ATP Madrid Open: Casper Ruud Downs Daniil Medvedev To Reach Semi-Finals

Casper Ruud advanced to the semi-finals of the Madrid Open with his first career victory over Daniil Medvedev on Thursday. (More Tennis News)

Ruud, defending a perfect record in ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final matches on clay, triumphed 6-3 7-5 in one hour and 40 minutes to tee up a meeting with Jakub Mensik or Francisco Cerundolo.

Medvedev sought to take an aggressive approach on his least favourite surface, but he failed to convert either of his two break points and came under fierce pressure on his own serve.

A break in the fourth game was enough to give Ruud the first set, and the Norwegian converted the only break point of a tight second set, earning a chance to serve for the match.

And when Medvedev raced to the net but failed to beat the cord with his forehand, Ruud's first victory in four meetings between the pair was complete.

Speaking in his court-side interview, Ruud expressed relief at having avoided a clean sweep in their head-to-head.

"I looked at our stats last night and saw he beat me on grass, outdoor hard and indoor hard. The last surface was clay, so I thought, 'Please don’t make it 4-0!'" Ruud said.

"I tried to use the surface to my advantage. I thought the level was pretty good from both players, I was impressed with Daniil's ability to produce power here on clay."

Data debrief: Ruud stands alone on clay

Ruud will now compete in his 30th ATP Tour-level semi-final on clay – the 26-year-old is the first player born in 1990 or later to reach that figure.

Meanwhile, since the ATP Masters 1000 format was introduced in 1990, Ruud is just the third player to win each of his first seven quarter-finals on clay, after Guillermo Coria and Rafael Nadal.바카라 웹사이트

Since 1973, Ruud (nine) is also just the fifth player to post the same number of ATP top-10 wins on clay and hard courts, after Andrei Chesnokov (10), Wojciech Fibak (seven), Hicham Arazi and Jaime Yzaga (six, all minimum five wins).