Either Jack Draper will win his second ATP Masters 1000 title of the year or Casper Ruud will win the first of his career after both men advanced to the final of the Mutua Madrid Open with victories Friday.
No. 5 seed Draper of Great Britain defeated No. 10 seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the first semifinal match. Norwegian 14th seed Ruud then turned back No. 20 seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina 6-4, 7-5.
Draper’s win only added to the best season of his young career. The 23-year-old won the Indian Wells Masters back in March. He is guaranteed to rise into the top five of the world rankings for the first time next week.
He won 38 of 49 first-service points (77.6 percent) against Musetti. Draper had 19 winners and 19 unforced errors, while his opponent managed 22 winners but committed 25 unforced errors.
Draper is now 4-0 all-time against Musetti.
“I felt like both of us, our quality didn’t really drop from the first ball,” Draper said after the match. “Credit to Lorenzo, he’s obviously playing so good on the clay. I played him on hard and on grass when we were juniors, growing up with him. But on clay, he’s a different beast, so to get this win on this court in this stage, semi-finals, it means so much to me.”
Speaking of proficiency on clay, it is no surprise that the 26-year-old Ruud is in position to capture the biggest title of his career. He reached consecutive French Open finals in 2022 and 2023 and also was one win away from the trophy at the 2024 Monte-Carlo Masters. Eleven of his 12 ATP victories came on clay.
Ruud hit four aces and saved a whopping 15 of 18 break points against Cerundolo while winning 5 of 9 break-point opportunities. In the second set, he fell behind 4-3 but rallied to win four of the last five games of the match.
Ruud also revealed that he was playing through some pain in his rib, for which he received treatment three games into the match.
“I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to finish the match, honestly,” Ruud said. “I felt something in my rib during the warmup, just towards the end before going out (on court), and I felt it in nearly every shot, especially the serve. …
“I got a couple of painkillers, which is not the ideal thing, but at the same time in a situation like this, you have to do that now and then. I was able to just play one game at a time really. It was easing and getting better as the match went on.”
Draper and Ruud will square off Sunday for the title.
–Field Level Media
