Experience pays off: Casper Ruud outlasts Francisco Cerundolo in Madrid semifinal

Casper Ruud defeated Francisco Cerundolo 6-4, 7-5 and secured his place in the final of the Madrid Open. The Norwegian reached his third Masters 1000 final after another great performance and will seek his first title in a tournament of this category.

It was not a simple match for Ruud, even though Cerundolo was a dark horse of the tournament. The South American previously led Ruud 5-3 in their head-to-head record and has consistently shown that he can beat the best, including three previous wins against top-5 players this season.

Ruud, not quite at his best, took advantage of his greater experience at this stage and was better in the key moments. The world No. 15 started the match by saving four break points against him, and a few games later, he secured a break in his favor on the first opportunity he had.

However, Cerundolo would not be intimidated so easily and broke back in the next game, leveling the score at 3-3. Nevertheless, in the decisive moments of the set, serving at 4-5, Ruud earned a couple of chances and ended up taking the set 6-4 after 45 minutes.

Towards the second set, it was Cerundolo who got the first break and went ahead 2-1, but similarly to the first set, Ruud broke back and saved the tie. Then came the most contested game of the day. The Argentine world No. 21 created up to seven break opportunities, but again Ruud prevailed in the critical points and ended up saving a key game in the match.

Both players traded breaks to stay level until 5-5. Ruud found himself serving at 0-40, but Cerundolo could not convert the break after five consecutive points from the Norwegian. Finally, the 3-time Grand Slam runner-up stepped on the gas and secured the decisive break, avoiding a tie-break and closing out the victory 6-4, 7-5 to advance to the final. He awaits the winner between Lorenzo Musetti and Jack Draper.