Casper Ruud books Rome Open semi-final over Cerundolo

Casper Ruud played a really solid match to take down a rather good Francisco Cerundolo at the Rome Open with the Argentine pushing the Norwegian about as much as you could have expected 7-6(5) 6-4.

Ruud was in the semi-final last year but lost to Novak Djokovic however this time around there won't be the number one player in the world as he was beaten by Rune earlier in the day. The Norwegian faced a player who beat him this year on clay in Cerundolo to get there so there was some demons to exorcise.

The Argentine proved better in Barcelona not long ago however in Rome, Ruud proved once again as the better player. This surface favours the Norwegian and he feels quite comfortable on it. He showed it early in this match by taking a 4-1 lead but Cerundolo came back. He was able to produce better shots overall hitting more winners than Ruud overall.

The first set ended in a tiebreak with the Norwegian proving slightly better 7-5 and it was really a set decided by margins. Cerundolo had more winners, almost twice as much as Ruud but he also had almost three times the errors Ruud had. 17 for Cerundolo and only six for Rune. The second set was better from Cerundolo and he had good chances but ultimately Ruud was still better, especially in the crucial rallies.