Casper Ruud outlasts a tired Denis Shapovalov for the Rome Masters semifinal

It was a very good match between Casper Ruud and Denis Shapovalov in Rome and it saw the Norwegian winning 7-6(7) 7-5.

Ruud is a very good clay player but his clay season has been somewhat shaky so far with some very lacklustre performances in Monte-Carlo and Madrid. This week in Rome he found his form again mainly due to his service which has been spectacular all week long. He hits it hard and precise setting himself up perfectly to finish off points with his forehand.

Shapovalov was playing well all week long as well but he played a couple of very long matches and by the 2nd set that fatigue was starting to show quite a bit. The first set was a close one as both players served and played well. Shapovalov did not use his break point early on and neither did Ruud use a couple of his later on. It went to a tiebreak with Ruud outplaying Shapovalov barely 9-7.

The 2nd set was played well by Ruud and a bit worse by Shapovalov. The Canadian struggled with his serve a bit in the 2nd set hitting it at a lower clip which gave Ruud chances. Most of his chances came late in the set when Shapovalov was starting to feel fatigued. He was a bit late on balls and Ruud was able to use only his 11th break ball in the set.

He then went on to finish it off with 7-5. A good win for Ruud who was more present physically having played much less tennis this week.