Norwegian tennis star and fifth seed Casper Ruud defeated Italian Matteo Berrettini 6-1, 6-4, 7-6(4) to reach the US Open semi-final on Tuesday.
Ruud, who was French Open runner-up, saw off Berrettini on clay in July’s Gstaad final and looked just as effective on the hard court, hanging back behind the baseline to absorb the 13th seed’s power.
Sprinting through a sublime first set in which he produced just two unforced errors, it looked like Ruud was on track for a blowout victory when he was up 5-1 in the second set.
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But Berrettini began to find his usual level when he broke Ruud in the second game and saved four breaks in the third.
Ruud mustered a terrific comeback, breaking Berrettini in the ninth and never trailed in the tiebreak.
He and third seed Carlos Alcaraz have a chance at seizing the world number one ranking at Flushing Meadows, as current holder Daniil Medvedev was sent packing in the fourth round.
Ruud will face either Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios of Australia or Russian Karen Khachanov in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile in Monday’s round of 16 clash, Italy’s Jannik Sinner made his way to the quarterfinals after a thrilling five-set match against Ilya Ivashka of Belarus.
Sinner defeated Belarus’s Ivashka 6-1. 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 to progress.
The 21-year-old has now reached the quarter-finals of all four Grand Slam tournaments, becoming the youngest man to do so since Novak Djokovic in 2007-08.
In his next quarter final encounter, the 11th seed Sinner will be facing Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz.
