Aurélien Canot, Media365, published on Friday 02 May 2025 at 6:29 p.m.
Casper Ruud confirmed his return to the forefront Friday by qualifying for the final of the Masters 1000 in Madrid at the expense of Francesco Cerundolo (6-4, 7-5), which can however bite their fingers as it has created any opportunities. The Norwegian, now 15th in the world, will face Musetti or Draper for the title.
It is no coincidence that the supporters of Casper Ruud are impatient every year before the kick -off of the season on clay. As soon as he finds himself on the ocher surface, the Norwegian seems to find each time to find wings. And you shouldn’t usually wait for a long time to see it again at its best. This is undoubtedly the case in this Masters 1000 of Madrid, where the double finalist of Roland-Garros, who had disappointed in Monte-Carlo like in Barcelona, shows again the best face of himself. It is therefore not a surprise to find him in the final, his third in the category after Miami in 2022 and Monte-Carlo last year. The score (6-4, 7-5) of his victory against Francesco Cerundolo on Friday in the first semi-final, however, does not mean the enormous difficulties that the now world number 15 has known to get rid of the Argentinian. Unfortunately for those who had pushed Novak Djokovic in his entrenchments during the last Roland Garros, he still seems to feed a complex when he finds himself so far in meetings of this level.
Cerundolo can bite their fingers
Friday, Cerundolo, who can be very angry with it, was not far from “eating the sheet” at the gates of this possible first final in Masters 1000. She will still wait for the 21st in the ranking, for lack of having missed a fairly incredible number of opportunities. After having made the break in the first set, before losing it, the Argentinian led 4-3 in the second round and obtained a 5-4 ball which would have allowed him to recolle on a set everywhere. Each time he failed, to the delight of Ruud, breed three times in this part when his young opponent has created … eighteen possibilities of doing so. Cerundolo, who had already stopped twice in the quarterfinals during the American tour, paradoxically finished with better stats than the Norwegian, who had seemed, moreover, strongly decreased at the start of the game. After his victory, the former world number 2, a fall the day before Daniil Medvedev, confessed that he had wondered at one point if he was going to be able to go after the meeting after feeling “something” at the level of a coast to warm up. More fear than harm in the end for this pure landmark, who has been waiting for more than a year to find a final in Masters 1,000. It is now done.
