New world No. 5 Jack Draper will face two-time French Open finalist Casper Ruud for the Madrid
championship on Sunday. Photo credit: Mutua Madrid Open Facebook
Madrid will crown a new clay king on Sunday.
New world No. 5 Jack Draper stopped Monte-Carlo finalist Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 7-6(4) charging into his first clay-court final at the Mutua Madrid Open.
Indian Wells champion Draper will face two-time French Open finalist Casper Ruud in a meeting of maiden Madrid finalists in Sunday’s final set for 12:30 p.m. Eastern time on Tennis Channel.
A resilient Ruud rallied from a break down three different times surviving Francisco Cerundolo 6-4, 7-5 to reach his maiden Mutua Madrid Open final.It’s the third Masters 1000 final for Ruud, who returns to the Top 10 by reaching this final.
Ruud will face Indian Wells champion and new world No. 5 Jack Draper in Sunday’s 12:30 p.m. Eastern time final that will see a maiden Madrid men’s champion crowned.
“I feel good. Another good win for me against a tough player that I lost to earlier this year, so nice to get the revenge,” Ruud told the media in Madrid. “To be back in a Masters 1000 final feels great. It’s not every day you get to play for these titles. I’ve been in two finals before and loss both, so hopefully there will be another third time is a charm.”
World No. 15 Ruud battled into the 25th final of his career on a day in which the hard-hitting Cerundolo outplayed him for extensive stretches.
Playing his first Masters 1000 semifinal since he lost to Ruud in the 2022 Miami Open final four, Cerundolo earned triple break point in three different games today.
Though Ruud took a medical timeout for a rib injury three games into the match, the Norwegian’s steely spine was on display. Ruud saved 15 of 18 break points, including 11 of the 13 break points he faced in the second set. In a rousing stand, Ruud rallied from love-40 down in the 11th game to hold for 6-5.
Afterward, Ruud said pain killers kicked in and helped him play.
“It’s just like rib area, it’s kind of sensitive, and when you have pain there it’s kind of, can get pretty sharp,” Ruud told the media in Madrid. “I haven’t done any examination other than my physio took a look at it after and cracked my back up, which kind of felt like a relief. Hopefully it’s nothing too serious, and we will go back to the hotel and treat it and do everything we can to feel even better.
“As the match went on, and I guess pain killers kind of kicked in, it was obviously better towards the end of the match than the beginning, so I guess that’s a good sign in a way. I’ll do everything we can and I can to feel better for tomorrow. And, of course, on Sunday night, I think, based on the way it felt, that it shouldn’t be too much to worry about for Sunday.”
Draper joins former No. 1 Andy Murray, former No. 4 Tim Henman and former No. 4 Greg Rusedski as the fourth British man in Open Era history to crack the Top 5.
“I feel stronger every time I play,” Draper told Sky Sports in his post-match interview. “The last couple of years coming onto the clay I felt against these guys I’d always be the one on the back foot, I’d always be the one defending.
“The next part of my game was just getting strong, getting more capable physically to do the things I know I can do and bully these guys. My forehand is doing a lot of damage and I want to keep it up.”
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