World No.1 Jannik Sinner breezed past Madrid Open reigning champion Casper Ruud with a flawless tennis display to progress into his first semifinal at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in his sixth appearance on Thursday in Rome.
Top seed Jannik Sinner graced Campo Centrale on Thursday evening in Rome with a stellar 6-0, 6-1 triumph over world No. 7 Casper Ruud in just 64 minutes, setting a semifinal clash with American Tommy Paul at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
Assessing his performance, Sinner asserted: “I was feeling great on the court today. I think we all saw that. My goal was to try to understand where my level is at this tournament.
“The result doesn’t really matter, but I felt today was a very positive sign for me.”
Earlier, Paul, 26, became the first American man to reach back-to-back Rome semifinals since Pete Sampras in 1994 by outlasting resurgent Pole player Hubert Hurkacz with a 7-6(4), 6-3 victory.
Sinner, who extended his winning streak to 25 matches, leads Paul 3-1 in the series.
The Match as It Happened
Competing in his fourth match at the event that marked his return to tour-level competition after three months sidelined due to ineligibility, the No. 1 Italian breezed past Ruud, a clay-court specialist, fresh from claiming his maiden career Masters 1000 title in Madrid early in May.
The home favorite made a red-hot start to the opening set, dropping just two points through the first four games, breaking his opponent’s serve twice at love to take a commanding 4-0 lead.
With his superb all-court coverage, he neutralized Ruud, who hit two double faults before the 23-year-old converted the third break point of the match in the fifth game.
The Norwegian pulled a late challenge when Sinner served for the set, but following a battle at deuce, the San Candido native wrapped up a flawless opener 6-0 in just 27 minutes, winning 25 of 32 points.
The two-time champion outplayed his adversary, turning defense into attack while generating speed and power to take the sixth seed out of balance.
Moreover, his high-quality performance on the return, recording a return rate of 290 compared to Ruud’s 52, made a huge difference.
The former world No. 2 tried to pick up where he left off, rallying through the first game of the second set, but when he failed to find solutions, he conceded the early break.
Despite facing break points on his serve in the third game, the 26-year-old held his ground for the first and only time in the match.
Striking the ball with brilliance, the world number one became unplayable, and in control of play, he broke twice to notch the set 6-1 and the match, winning 78 percent of the points on his first serve.
He hit 22 winners against 10 unforced errors compared to the three-time Grand Slam runner-up, seven and 17, respectively.
Reflecting on his ruthless showing, he further outlined: “Everything can change in one day. It’s not that one performance can tell everything about my shape now, but I am very happy.
“Today, everything worked very well. I was serving well, also, returning well, and moving great on the court. I’m very happy about that, and now let’s see what’s coming in the semis.”
