Unstoppable Jannik Sinner serves up a bagel, crushes Casper Ruud en route to Rome semifinal

Jannik Sinner unstoppable, signs his best performance since his return and sweeps aside Casper Ruud 6-0, 6-1 to advance to the semifinals of the Italian Open for the first time in his career. The world No. 1 had an impressive start and never lost concentration to secure his first top-10 victory since the Australian Open final against Alexander Zverev.

The three-time Grand Slam champion continues to add points and increase his lead as the world No. 1. Since the start of 2024, Sinner has reached the semifinals in six of the eight Masters 1000 events he has played. He prepares to face world No. 12 Tommy Paul for a place in the final.

An impressive first set from Sinner, and a lamentable one from Ruud, who hadn't been seen at such a low level for a long time. From the start, Sinner won 14 of the first 15 points played, while Ruud entered a loop of constant errors, conceding his serve twice in a row without even scoring a point.

The Norwegian's hesitant start was exploited by Sinner, who maintained his composure on serve without any trouble and continued to be sharp on the return, securing his third consecutive break to move ahead 5-0. In the final part, Sinner had no doubts on his serve and on his third set point, secured the lead after just 28 minutes, delivering a bagel (6-0).

Without taking away from the Italian's merits, Ruud had a poor 43% first serve percentage, winning just 17% on his first serve and 13% on his second. In total of the 7 points Ruud won, only 2 were on his serve, totaling 24% of the total points played. The Norwegian had no winners and 12 unforced errors compared to the local player's 8 winners and only 5 unforced errors.

At the start of the second set, there were slight improvements in Ruud's serve, and he at least began to land his first serve more often, putting himself in a better position for the rallies. After 43 minutes of play, Ruud finally hit his first winner, but it wasn't enough to win his first game, and Sinner once again secured a break, and then defend his service game easily.

Amidst laughter, Ruud went to the timeout after managing to win a game for the first time in the match, not without difficulty, saving a couple of break points against him. However, it was just a 'parenthesis' in the duel, as Sinner did not slow down for the remainder of the match, held his serve without problems, and took advantage of his break opportunities to secure a notable 6-0, 6-1 victory and advance to the semifinals of the Italian Open. In search of the final, he will face world No. 12 Tommy Paul.