Stefanos Tsitsipas became the first semi-finalist of the ATP Toronto Masters, by beating Casper Ruud 6-1 6-4 on Friday.
Ruud was on a 13 match win streak and had won three European clay titles in three weeks. The 12th rank Norwegian, son of former ATP pro Christian Ruud, defeated Tsitsipas at the Madrid Clay tournament but the greek had stopped him comfortably, this time around. The Greek player stopped Ruud from having his 100th career win. This increased his win tally to 45 this season, which is a career-high.
The 23-year-old tennis player dedicated his win to his mother, Julia whose birthday was today and he cited her as a big inspiration when he played the game. New world number three Tsitsipas has said that he wanted to ensure that his mother is proud of him today.
He elaborated and said that sticking to the baseline worked for him in this game and that was his intention throughout. He stated that he was very happy and can himself be surprised with how well he can play sometimes.
Tsitsipas finished the game with 20 winners and 11 unforced errors. In the 74 minute match, Ruud gave Tsitsipas two break chances, as the Norwegian missed out on an overhead 4-all. The second break chance proved decisive as Tsitsipas took that and won the match moments later.
The other quarter-final games will still be played, with Tsitsipas playing the winner of Roberto Batista Agut and Reilly Opelka. Daniil Medvedev will face Hubert Hurkacz and John Isner will face Gael Monfils for another two spots in the semifinals.
