Tennis player Daniil Medvedev fell short in his bid to advance to the semifinals at the Masters tournament in Madrid.
In a major surprise, Russian tennis ace Daniil Medvedev succumbed to Norwegian arrival Casper Ruud in the quarterfinals of the prestigious Masters Series tournament in Madrid with a whopping €7.8 million prize pool.
Medvedev experienced a tough loss, 6-3, 7-5, against the seemingly unfazed Ruud.
Despite the defeat, Medvedev remains the 10th best player in the ATP rankings. Post-tournament, he regains the title of the top-ranked Russian player.
According to Rbc.group, Ruud, currently ranked 15th, had suffered defeats in his previous three encounters with Medvedev.
In the upcoming semifinals, Ruud will square off against either Argentine Francisco Cerundolo (21st) or Czech Jiri Vesely (23rd).
Last year's Madrid Masters was clinched by Andrei Rublev.
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Interestingly, Ruud showcased his clay-court mastery, defeating Medvedev in straight sets. This marked his first career win over Medvedev in their fourth meeting, as he had previously lost all three encounters (0-3) against the Russian.
In this highly competitive match, Ruud broke Medvedev's serve early in both sets, leveraging the Russian's discomfort on clay. The decisive moment came in the second set's 11th game, where Ruud converted his lone break point to seal the victory.
Throughout the match, Medvedev committed 33 unforced errors and 4 double faults, struggling to cope with Ruud's baseline consistency. On the contrary, Ruud saved all break points faced, capitalizing on 2 out of 8 break chances.
The clay-court expertise of Ruud proved invaluable, neutralizing Medvedev's powerful groundstrokes with heavy topspin and precise court positioning. Ruud's ability to attack Medvedev's second serve (winning 52% of return points) added pressure to Medvedev, while the Russian's uncharacteristic errors reflected his ongoing challenges in adapting to clay.
Ruud advances to face either Francisco Cerundolo or Jakub Mensik in the semifinals.
Ruud recorded his first career win against Medvedev after losing all three previous encounters (0-3), marking a significant milestone in their rivalry. The victory came in the 23rd Masters Series tournament, where Ruud showed exceptional clay-court prowess, breaking Medvedev's serve early in both sets. As the top-ranked Russian player, Medvedev struggled to cope with Ruud's baseline consistency, committing 33 unforced errors and 4 double faults, whereas Ruud saved all break points faced and capitalized on 2 out of 8 break chances. In the upcoming semifinals, Ruud will face either Cerundolo or Mensik, presenting an opportunity for the Norwegian to continue his impressive run in this year's sports tennis tournaments.
