Casper Ruud was forced to fight for three hours in an epic match against a rejuvenated Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The Madrid Open reigning champion battled in the heat for 2 hours and 57 minutes against a Tsitsipas who showed signs of his old self.
It was the Greek who took the opening set by way of tie-break and the pair needed such an ending to decide every set of the thrilling encounter.
As to where the match was won, Tsitsipas will highlight his first serve as a room for improvement with just 73% of his first serve points won. Ruud on the other hand converted 82% of his.
But despite this, Tsitsipas kept himself in it by remaining calm under pressure, especially when it came to break points and he saved 11 of the 12 he faced.
Crucially, that one failure came late on with Ruud saving two match points before breaking Tsitsipas to push the deciding set into a tie-break.
The victory means Ruud is on a nine-match winning streak in Madrid and will now face the winner of Francisco Cerundolo and Alexander Blockx.
“I could have been going home already,” he said. “So just really happy and proud the way I fought back.
“The first two sets were really close, and obviously the score line said so as well.
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“The third set, I kind of felt like I had a better beginning. I had some break chances early on, I had a somewhat of an easy sitter forehand. The plan was to go big across, and then I changed my mind, just a split second before and I hesitated, and I went down the line and hit it on the top of the net.
“So those things you tend to remember, unfortunately, a bit too long. But that was a key kind of point for him and then he broke me in the next game. So that was two really tough games for me to kind of swallow.
“But we moved on and luckily, the last chance I had, I was able to break back and stay alive in the match.
“And also the tie break kind of turned it around. I was a little bit down in the beginning, but then I played some clutch points. I think that the return at three all in the tie break is kind of what maybe wins the match for me.
“I get a mini break, and then I play two good points behind my serve, 6-3 up. Feel like you’re just there, and then just managed to get one extra ball in, which was the key today.”
Despite the defeat, there were plenty of positives to take from the tournament for Tsitsipas who gained 50 ranking points and rose up five places to 75th.
Ruud remains 25th for the time being with plenty of points to lose should he fail to retain the tournament.
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The post Madrid Open: Casper Ruud survives Stefanos Tsitsipas scare in three hour battle appeared first on Tennis365.
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