Zverev overcomes Ruud in Paris, moves to semifinal

Alexander Zverev is the final semifinalist at the Paris Masters after the German overcame Casper Ruud in two 7-5 6-4.

It was a rather straightforward match for Alexander Zverev who overcame Casper Ruud once more in 2021. The German player defeat the Norwegian player earlier in the year during the North American tour and similar to that match he had no issues in this one as well. The first set was well played by both early but Zverev was better.

The German served well and once he hit his first serve it was very hard for Ruud to do anything. Zverev lost only two first serve points all set long and he did not allow a single break point. Ruud faced several and one of those was converted by Zverev late to secure the first set with 7-5.

The 2nd set was much easier for Zverev although he faced some issues in this one. He took an early break for a 2-1 lead but faced three break points in the very next game. He was able to hold on and fend off Ruud taking a 3-1 lead. The Norwegian's game eroded after that and his error count increased.

Zverev had a very good chance to increase his lead to 5-2 which effectively would have ended the match on the spot but Ruud was able to hang in there. The German did not become nervous after that calmly winning his service game. He then closed it out with 6-4 to move on to the semifinal.