The opposition was, as feared, tough on Ruud. He was to see himself outclassed with the numbers 1-6, 4-6 on the Canadian hard court.
Two consecutive breaks early in the game paved the way for a heavy defeat for Ruud. Only once did he manage to hold his own serve in the first set. The Norwegian struggled with the timing of the forehand and struggled hard to curb Tsitsipas’ aggressive style of play.
It has to be said that Ruud was about to get off to a great start on his first serve. There he was leading 40-15, but the Greek world coach fought back and collected all the following points to hit the first break point of the quarter-finals.
The first set has drastically disappeared. Tsitsipas settled it in just 24 minutes.
Raised
Ruud showed much better beats in the second set. He had the opportunity to break up early, but didn’t take advantage of it. He then survived two broken balls in Game 3.
The players held serve well until Ruud made a big mistake. Tsitsipas didn’t let the chance pass and broke at 5-4. Thus, the Greek could serve as home advancement. The match was over in one hour and 16 minutes.
Hardcourt is not Ruud’s favorite base, but before Friday’s showdown he had shown progress in Toronto. In the middle of the week, he knocked out Croatian veteran and former US Open winner Marin Cilic.
Stop Victory Ranks
Ruud came to Canada full of confidence after three straight wins on the ATP Tour. All triumphs have come on gravel. Friday’s defeat was the 22-year-old’s first since he smoked in the first round at Wimbledon in late June.
The Toronto tournament is at the ATP Masters 1000 level. Only Grand Slam competitions have a higher status in the sport of tennis. Ruud has already reached the Masters semi-finals three times, but it has come on gravel. The quarter-finals in Canada were his first on hard court.
Ruud will start another Masters tournament next week in Cincinnati, Ohio. This will be his last competition before the US Open, which is the last Grand Slam competition of this year.
The tennis professional from Snarøya is currently ranked 12th in the world rankings.
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