The opposition was, as was feared, hard on Ruud. He was to be outclassed with the numbers 1-6, 4-6 on the Canadian hard.
Two consecutive breaks early in the game set the stage for Ruud’s heavy loss. Only once did he manage to hold his own serve in the first set. The Norwegian struggled with timing on the forehand and struggled hard to curb Tsitsipas’ aggressive style of play.
It must be said that Ruud was about to start his first serve well. There he was leading 40-15, but world coach Greece fought back fiercely and collected all of the following points to strike the first break point of the quarter-finals.
The first set started radically. Tsitsipas fixed it in just 24 minutes.
Lifted
Ruud showed much better beats in the second set. He had the opportunity to escape early, but failed to take advantage of it. He then survived two broken balls in Game 3.
The players kept the serve until Ruud made a big mistake. Tsitsipas did not pass up the opportunity and broke at 5-4. Thus, Greek could be used at home for advancement. The match ended in one hour and 16 minutes.
Hardcourt is not Ruud’s favorite base, but heading into Friday’s showdown he had shown progress in Toronto. In midweek, he knocked out Croatian veteran and former US Open winner Marin Cilic.
Stop the victory ranks
Ruud came to Canada full of confidence after three straight victories on the ATP Tour. All the triumphs have come on the gravel. Friday’s loss was the 22-year-old’s first since he smoked in the first round at Wimbledon in late June.
The tournament in Toronto 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 was done 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 this year.
The professional tennis player from Snarøya is currently in 12th place in the world rankings.
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