Ruud Breaks New Ground With First Win Over Medvedev In Madrid

Casper Ruud
Casper Ruud (photo: Ion Alcoba Beitia/MMO)

MADRID/WASHINGTON, May 1, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

Since the start of the 2020 season, World No. 15 Casper Ruud has led the ATP Tour in clay victories (123), finals (16) and titles (11). As these statistics bear out, the Norwegian No. 1 simply has been lights out on the red dirt surface.

On Thursday at the Mutua Madrid Open in the Spanish capital city, the 14th-seeded Ruud advanced to his 40th tour-level semifinal and became just the third active male player to reach 30 semifinals on clay, following Novak Djokovic (50) and Fabio Fognini (30) – and the first born in 1990 or later to achieve the milestone.

Ruud’s 6-3, 7-5 victory over World No. 10 Daniil Medvedev, completed in one hour and 40 minutes on Manolo Santana Stadium under partly cloudy skies, equaled his best result in the ATP Masters 1000 event, when he reached the 2021 semifinals.

“Well, if you look on paper, I should have lost today,” Ruud said during his on-court interview with ATP Media afterward. “I should have lost the other day [to Taylor Fritz]. I came here after a tough defeat in Barcelona [against Holger Rune]. I worked a little bit with myself – especially my mental aspect in approaching matches and tournaments. So, I’m coming into the tournament with a better version of myself.

“I’ve been playing with good intensity this tournament and I would like to keep it going. There’s been some kind of fire missing lately. So, I’m happy to bring it here in Madrid.”

In their first meeting since 2021 – and first on clay – Ruud collected his first win over Medvedev by overall being the steadier player. While he finished with 17 winners to 21 unforced errors, Medvedev ended the quarterfinal with 33 unforced errors that overshadowed his 22 winners. Ruud also fought well and maintained a good attitude. He saved both break points he faced from Medvedev and broke his opponent twice in eight chances. Ruud outpointed Medvedev 76-64.

As the quarterfinal match neared its conclusion, Ruud broke Medvedev’s serve with a demonstrative – and fist-pumping – 12th-shot forehand winner up the line to go ahead 5-4 in the second set. Like he did after he broke the Russian to go ahead 3-1 in the opening set, Ruud consolidated the break, and this time, it rewarded him with his 19th victory of the 2025 season. He put away the win on his second match point after Medvedev netted a forehand return.

“I looked at our stats last night, and I see [Daniil] had beaten me on grass,” Ruud said. “He beat on outdoor hard court; he beat me on indoor hard court. The last surface remaining was clay, and I thought ‘please don’t make it 4-0.’ Now, it’s 3-1. I tried to use the surface to my advantage as best as I could. I think the level was pretty good today from both players.

“I was impressed with Daniil’s ability to produce power here on clay. I’ve been watching some of his matches here in the past and today, it felt like he was kind of decisive in firing off from the forehand. He hit some great winners. I’m not going to say I was surprised but he didn’t kind of bring what maybe I expected.”

Ruud added: “I knew I had to play well to beat him. Otherwise, there would be no chance. I’m happy I was able to play well and, especially in the key moments, to get one break in each set. Sometimes, that’s enough here in Madrid.”

Cerundolo masters Mensik, ends Czechian’s winning streak

Next, Ruud will play No. 20 seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina, who rallied to defeat No. 22 seed Jakub Mensik of Czechia, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2, in two hours and 11 on Arantxa Sanchez Stadium.

Cerundolo tied Carlos Alcaraz and Alex de Minaur for most wins on ATP Tour this season (24), with his victory over the 19-year-old #NextGenATP rising star. Although Mensik came into their semifinal with a 10-1 win-loss record in ATP Masters 1000 play this year, Cerundolo was on his game – and the triumph was his tour-leading 16th win on clay this season.

The Argentine’s second break of Mensik’s serve gave him a 5-2 lead in the final set and he won the quarterfinal skirmish on his second match point. It followed an exciting second-set tiebreaker, in which Cerundolo began to take control of the quarterfinal. The loss ended Mensik’s nine-match winning streak at ATP Masters 1000 level and dropped his season-long win-loss record to 17-8.

“I’m tired, I ran a lot today,” Cerundolo admitted during his courtside post-match interview with ATP Media. “I was running everywhere. [Jakub] was shooting amazing shots, super powerful serve. Every shot was really dangerous. I’m super happy with what I did today.

“It was a really difficult match. I was never in control. I was really digging, really fighting. I’m super happy to win.”

Cerundolo withstood 11 aces by Mensik and benefited from his opponent’s 46 unforced errors. He finished with 23 winners to 29 unforced errors. By the end, Cerundolo had outpointed Mensik by just three points, 94-91, to improve his 2025 win-loss record to 24-9. The victory by Cerundolo also broke a five-match losing streak in quarterfinals at the ATP Masters 1000 level.

“I love Madrid, I love the city. I think I’m the only one [left] in the draw who speaks Spanish,” Cerundolo said. “The support is amazing by the Spanish fans.”

Regardless of how Cerundolo fares the rest of the way, come Monday when the PIF ATP Rankings are updated, he will emerge with a career-high ranking of World No. 18.

Draper’s latest victory lifts him into Top 5 spot

World No. 6 Jack Draper of Great Britain arrived for his quarterfinal against No. 44 Matteo Arnaldi of Italy on Arantxa Sanchez Stadium as the highest-ranked player left in the Madrid men’s draw, attempting to reach his first ATP Tour semifinal on clay. After his impressive 6-0, 6-4 victory over Arnaldi,  completed in a very compact 77 minutes – but filled with plenty of intensity – the British No. 1 broke into the Top 5 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, moving ahead of Novak Djokovic.

Draper also became the fourth British ATP Masters 1000 semifinalist on clay, joining Andy Murray (7), Daniel Evans (1) and Tim Henman (1), and he joined Murray (2008, 2015-16) as the second British play to do it in Madrid.

With his latest victory, Draper is now 22-2 versus players ranked outside the Top 10 since last October, with the only setbacks coming against Miami Open champion Jakub Mensik in the second round and at Monte-Carlo against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round.

“I felt confident from the first ball,” Draper said during his on-court interview with ATP Media. “I’ve been building my level, so far the last week or so. To come out here today with that intensity is something I’m really happy with. … The second set may have been less clinical, but it’s tough to play to that standard the whole match. Credit to Matteo, as well. He made my life pretty difficult in the second set. I’m just proud of how I competed out there today.”

As it happened, Draper dropped a bagel on Arnaldi in the opening set, dominating from first ball to last, winning 24 of the 34 points that were played. The British No. 1 struck nine winners – all of them from his forehand side – and he won 16 of 21 baseline exchanges. Draper won 83 percent of his first-serve points, dropping just two points on his first serve, and he converted three of six break-point opportunities, while face no break points from the overmatched Arnaldi.

While Arnaldi finally got on the scoreboard with a hold of his serve to begin the second set, Draper went on to break Arnaldi for a fourth time to push ahead 3-2 and consolidated it for a 4-2 advantage. Draper closed out his 18th victory in his 22nd outing on his second match point. He finished with 17 winners – 12 of them from his forehand side – to just 15 unforced errors. Draper won 35 points from the baseline and converted four of 10 break points, while facing zero break points on his serve. He outpointed Arnaldi 61-39.

After elmininating Tallon Griekspoor, Matteo Berrettini, Tommy Paul and Arnaldi – without dropping a single set – next up for Draper in Friday’s semifinal round will be World No. 11 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, who ended the dream run of 78th-ranked Canadian lucky loser Gabriel Diallo, 6-4, 6-3, in 89 minutes Thursday evening on Manolo Santana Stadium.

All in all for Draper, not bad for someone who started the season ranked 15th and a year ago in Madrid was No. 43.

“I think as I’ve gotten stronger and better, my forehand has really come into its own on all surfaces,” Draper said. “This year on the clay, it’s really doing a lot of damage. I’m trying to base my game around that and my serve and just getting more and more efficient and understanding of how I can play out here every time.”

Musetti continues impressive run on clay

With his debut in the Top 10 already certain, Italian No. 2 Lorenzo Musetti confidently and impressively continued his run on clay by marching into his second straight ATP Masters 1000 semifinal – and becoming the first man since Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev in 2022 to reach both the Monte-Carlo and Madrid semifinals in the same year.

Musetti defeated 78th-ranked lucky loser Gabriel Diallo of Canada, 6-4, 6-3, in just under an hour and a half on Manolo Santana Stadium.

With his latest triumph, the 23-year-old Musetti has won nine of his last 10 matches – losing only to World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in the final at Monte-Carlo. Against Diallo, he secured the 89-minute win on his first match-point opportunity after his opponent hit a fifth-shot forehand wide. Musetti signed the camera lens “Gracias. Nos vemos mañana!”

Musetti, who opted to play well behind the baseline for much of the match, won 35 of 60 points from that position. He finished with 12 winners to 12 unforced errors, while Diallo countered with 14 winners but committed 38 unforced errors. Musetti converted four of six break points and saved four of five he faced from the 23-year-old Canadian.

“I probably didn’t show my best tennis,” Musetti said of his quarterfinal win over Diallo, during his on-court interview with ATP Media. “But the important thing of this match was to take the win no matter how I was playing. 

“Of course I didn’t feel the ball like last night, but I knew it already stepping on court that today was a tough match, especially on the mental side, so I think I managed to stay there and stay focused through the last point. Proud to be in the semis.”

Around the Caja Mágica

The quarterfinal round of the men’s doubles draw took place on Thursday. At the start of the day, the top three seeded teams made up nearly half of the last eight. By the end of the day, there were only two seeded teams remaining.

One seeded team that did win was No. 1 seeds Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Mate Pavic of Croatia, who are co-ranked No. 1 and have already won two ATP Masters 1000 titles this season, at Indian Wells and Miami, and were semifinalists in Monte-Carlo.

The Salvadoran/Croatian duo rallied to defeat No. 6 seeds Nikola Mektic of Croatia and Michael Venus of New Zealand, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 10-5, in an hour and 42 minutes on Stadium 3. Next, they will face an unseeded team, Americans Christian Harrison and Evan King, who defeated Argentines Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni, 6-4, 6-2, in 76 minutes on Stadium 3.

Also, advancing to the semifinals was No. 5 seeds Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina, who upset No. 2 seeds Harri Heliovaara of Finland and Henry Patten of Great Britain, 7-6 (3), 6-3, in an hour and 26 minutes on Arantxa Sanchez Stadium. Next, they will play No. 3 seeds Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz of Germany, who eliminated Sander Gille of Belgium and Jan Zielinski of Poland, 6-3, 6-4, in 73 minutes on Stadium 3.

The men’s doubles semifinals is set for Friday on Arantxa Sanchez Stadium and the final will take place Saturday afternoon prior to the women’s singles final.

Thursday’s Mutua Madrid Open results

Friday’s Mutua Madrid Open order of play

By the numbers

Coming into Thursday’s men’s quarterfinals action, there have been four players who have reached the semifinals of all nine ATP Masters 1000 series events: Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray. Nadal and Djokovic completed their respective sets in 2009, Federer in 2010 and Murray in 2015. Had Daniil Medvedev defeated Casper Ruud, he would have been the fifth player to achieve the feat.

“Quotable …”

“Obviously, it’s fun to do well in big tournaments, and every match is important. I struggled to find a lot of match wins in a row in big tournaments as of late, so at least I have now three here in Madrid, so I’ll try to keep it going.”

– World No. 15 Casper Ruud of Norway, after defeating World No. 4 Taylor Fritz of the United States to advance to the quarterfinal round against World No. 10 Daniil Medvedev.

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