‘Best start ever!’ – Casper Ruud ends remarkable Matteo Berretini Slam run
Casper Ruud has become the first man other than Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal to beat Matteo Berrettini at a Slam since the 2020 French Open.
The Norwegian was playing his first US Open quarter-final against the world number 14 Italian, who himself was looking to reach a second career semi-final in New York.
But Ruud played impeccably in the first two sets, winning 11 of the first 13 games, before Berrettini eventually turned up late in the second, but it was too late as he lost 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) in an uncharacteristically straightforward defeat.
“Better start than I ever had before I think in a match,” Ruud admitted in his on-court interview. “Everything was going my way, hitting all the spots I needed to. Plus, Matteo maybe didn’t serve as well as he usually does.”
By contrast, Berrettini was disappointed and distraught with his own performance, saying in his post-match press conference: “[Ruud] played a really good match, and I played a really bad match. Really nothing I can say more than the worst day of the tournament probably in the most important moment.”
While Berrettini was 21-4 at Slam level since Roland Garros in late 2020, only losing to Djokovic and Nadal, he had not beaten a top 10 player across those 25 matches.
With victory, Ruud overtakes Carlos Alcaraz to second in the live ATP rankings, and is still in with a shot at becoming world number one.
He takes on Karen Khachanov next for a place in the US Open final after the Russian upset an in-form Nick Kyrgios in their quarter-final battle.
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