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May 1, 2025 4:39 pm

Jack Draper, Casper Ruud notch milestones with Madrid QF wins

jack draper

No. 5 seed Jack Draper of Great Britain breezed past Italian Matteo Arnaldi 6-0, 6-4 in 77 minutes on Thursday to reach the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open.

Draper’s run at the ATP Masters 1000 event ensures that he will break into the top five of the world rankings next week for the first time in his young career.

The 23-year-old won 33 of 43 total service points (76.7 percent) and never faced break point in a dominant showing against Arnaldi.

“I feel stronger every time I play,” Draper said, per The Guardian. “The last couple of years coming onto the clay I felt against these guys I’d always be the one on the back foot and I’d always be the one defending.”

“The next part of my game was just getting strong, getting more capable physically to do the things I know I can do and bully these guys.”

Draper’s opponent in the semifinals will be another native of Italy, No. 10 seed Lorenzo Musetti, who ended Canadian lucky loser Gabriel Diallo’s run with a 6-4, 6-3 quarterfinal win.

Diallo got his place in the main draw after Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka withdrew at the start of the event. Among the opponents he beat were Cameron Norrie of Great Britain and No. 15 seed Grigor Dimitrov of Belgium.

But Musetti fired four aces without a double fault and saved 4 of 5 break points while going 4-for-6 in breaking Diallo’s serve.

Norwegian 14th seed Casper Ruud defeated Russian ninth seed Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-5, marking Ruud’s first-ever victory over Medvedev.

Ruud, known as a clay-court specialist, is searching for his first ATP Masters 1000 trophy.

“I looked at our stats last night and saw he beat me on grass, outdoor hard and indoor hard. The last surface was clay so I thought, ‘Please don’t make it 4-0,'” Ruud said. “I tried to use the surface to my advantage. I thought the level was pretty good from both players, I was impressed with Daniil’s ability to produce power here on clay.”

Medvedev had more winners (22-17), but Ruud capitalized on the Russian’s unforced errors (33 to Ruud’s 21).

Ruud will square off against No. 20 seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina, who rallied past Czech No. 22 seed Jakub Mensik 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2. Cerundolo followed his upset of top seed Alexander Zverev of Germany by ending Mensik’s nine-match winning streak.

–Field Level Media

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