Casper Ruud Makes History with Victory Over Novak Djokovic in Monte-Carlo Semi-Final

Casper Ruud did it! At the end of the second semi-final of the Monte-Carlo tournament, the Norwegian managed to defeat Novak Djokovic for the first time in his career after a 2h17 fight (6-4, 1-6, 6 -4).

Facing the world number one, Ruud obtained his very first qualification in the final of a Masters 1000 on clay and confirms his preference for ocher. Too inconsistent during the match, Djokovic came back like a bullet at the end of the third set but it proved insufficient to win. In the final this Sunday, Ruud will cross swords with the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Djokovic loses his temper, towards the audience: “Shut up!”

End of the curse facing the “top 3” for Ruud

Casper Ruud will be able to go to bed with the feeling of accomplishment. In eleven confrontations against a member of the top 3 since the start of his career, the Scandinavian had never won a single match. Worse still: in five confrontations against Novak Djokovic, the number eight seed had never won a single set.

On the clay court of Monaco, his worst nightmares ended up evaporating. The Djoker, double winner in Monte-Carlo in 2013 and 2015, was certainly not yet at his best level in his first tournament of the year on this surface. That said, this reunion-style poster showed that Ruud was capable of winning an arm wrestling match against the Serbian legend.

Djokovic misses the inevitable, after a tweener from Ruud

At 4-4 in the third, Ruud did not flinch

Despite Djoko’s convincing victory in three straight sets during the last Roland-Garros final, Ruud did not think about the past and focused on the present. It took him well: the outsider broke his opponent in the first game of the match, then his confidence in serving did the rest to allow him to win the first set in fifty minutes (6-4).

Mentally unlocked, Ruud underwent a form of decompression into which Djokovic was quick to rush. Author of a break at the start of the second set, the defending champion at Porte d’Auteuil played his Machiavellian game while Ruud lost his consistency on serve. Result of the races: after 1h28 of play, Djoko masterfully recovered with a set everywhere (6-1).

The roar then the break: Djokovic, for a time, restarted the match

Impressed by the champion’s return to grace, the short Rainier III probably did not expect to see Ruud regain control of operations from the start of the third set. Once again concentrated and sharp in his forehand attacks, the 10th player in the world led 3-0, then 4-1. But that was before seeing Djokovic come back like a rocket in this meeting.

Thanks to a blank break, the winner of 24 Grand Slam tournaments reignited the suspense in the game to return to 4-4 in the last set. If ordinary mortals must have imagined Ruud cracking under pressure, quite the opposite happened with a last service game very poorly managed by Djokovic like a match point won on a double fault . For Ruud, the bad dream is finally over.

Ruud, prayer answered: “Let him make a double mistake, for once”

2024-04-13 19:23:00
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