Casper Ruud has written his name alongside tennis legend Rafael Nadal in the history of the sport. He has matched the feat of the French tennis great by cruising into the semi-finals of Madrid Open .
Casper Ruud’s Dream Run at Madrid Open 2025
Despite a wobbly start to his clay season due to which he dropped in the ATP Rankings, the Norwegian has been a dominant force on the clay courts of the Caja Magica.
Rudd, the 14th seed in the tournament, defeated the ninth seed Daniil Medvedev in a thrilling 6-3, 7-5 victory to reach the milestone.
The Norwegian’s match on Thursday was his seventh quarter-final appeance at a clay-court Masters 1000 event, and ultimately his seventh win.
After beating Medvedev, the former world No 2 joins an exclusive club of just three men to win his first seven Masters quarter-finals on clay since the format was introduced in 1990.
Norwegian 14th seed Casper Ruud defeated Russian ninth seed Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-5, marking Ruud’s first-ever victory over Medvedev.
Ruud, known as a clay-court specialist, is searching for his first ATP Masters 1000 trophy.
“I looked at our stats last night and saw he beat me on grass, outdoor hard and indoor hard. The last surface was clay so I thought, ‘Please don’t make it 4-0,’” Ruud said. “I tried to use the surface to my advantage. I thought the level was pretty good from both players, I was impressed with Daniil’s ability to produce power here on clay.”
Read More
Also Read: Madrid Open 2025: Aryna Sabalenka To face Coco Gauff In Final
Medvedev had more winners (22-17), but Ruud capitalized on the Russian’s unforced errors (33 to Ruud’s 21).
In the Madrid Open semi-finals, Ruud will meet Francisco Cerundolo (20th seed) of Argentina, who rallied past Czech Jakub Mensik (22nd seed) 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2. Cerundolo ended Mensik’s nine-match winning streak, before upsetting top seed Alexander Zverev of Germany.
