Canadian Open LIVE: Casper Ruud reached his third ATP Masters 1000 semi-final of the season Friday, when he capitalised on a misfiring performance from Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime to advance 6-1, 6-2 in Montreal. The fourth seed recovered from dropping serve in the opening game as he played the more consistent and aggressive tennis throughout the clash on Court Central, with home favourite Auger-Aliassime leaking errors from both wings. Follow Canadian Open LIVE updates at InsideSport.IN
Canadian Open LIVE: Casper Ruud reaches semifinal after defeating Felix Auger Aliassime in straight sets in quarterfinal at Canadian Open 2022
Make that 6️⃣ Masters 1000 SFs for @CasperRuud98 👏
He hands Auger-Aliassime the most one-sided loss of his career with a 6-1, 6-2 victory in Montreal.#OBN22 pic.twitter.com/D530IVe5sx
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 12, 2022
The 23-year-old committed nine unforced errors in the match compared to Auger-Aliassime’s 25, while he hit with great accuracy to pull around the Canadian, who looked nervous in his first Masters 1000 quarter-final at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers.
“It was one of those days where everything goes in one favour and luckily it was in my favour. With a player like Felix, you need to rely on some margins going your way. I didn’t expect them to all go on my side,” Ruud said in his on-court interview. “It was a bit of a difficult start. I got broken but then was able to turn everything around. I hit my spots, made the shots I needed to and make him hit a lot of balls. That was the game plan and it worked well.
”I am sure Felix has played better than he has today. He has for sure, I have seen it before. It is a pity because he is playing at home. Maybe that was a factor, you could be nervous, but I am not going to talk for Felix. It was a big moment. This arena was full today and I am lucky I was able to win.”
With his 74-minute victory, Ruud has improved to 2-1 in their ATP Head2Head series and will next play eighth-seeded Pole Hubert Hurkacz. The Norwegian has won three tour-level titles this year, while he advanced to his maiden Masters 1000 final in Miami in April, losing to Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. Ruud, who is up to No. 5 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, is now 38-13 on the season, while he holds an 11-3 record on hard courts.
“The last hard-court tournament I played in was in Miami where I reached the final. I wanted to make a deep run here,” Ruud said. “I didn’t think it was too likely, being the first hard-court tournament back, but I have been playing great from the first point in the first match.”
Canadian Open LIVE: Casper Ruud reaches semifinal after defeating Felix Auger Aliassime in straight sets in quarterfinal at Canadian Open 2022
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