In the early hours of May 16th, Jannik Sinner defeated Casper Ruud 6-0, 6-1 in an astonishing all-out performance in the quarterfinals in Rome. The number one seed hit powerful shots from both sides right from the first point at Campo Centrale, and he easily overwhelmed Ruud, who had won his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Madrid less than two weeks earlier. After making a strong impression by winning 16 of the first 18 points, Sinner maintained his high level of performance to win in 64 minutes.
Sinner shines in the quarterfinals (Photo: Getty).
Sinner responded to questions about his near-perfect form, saying: "It's hard to say. I felt great on the court today. I think we all saw that. My goal is to try to understand my own form in this tournament. The fact that my form is improving day by day makes me very happy."
The outcome of the match doesn't really matter; I feel today was a very positive sign for myself. Things can change in a day. Not one performance can say everything about my current form, but I'm very happy. I think everything went very well today. I served well, returned serves well, and moved great on the court. I'm very happy about that, and now let's see what happens in the semi-finals."
With his 25th consecutive win, Sinner set up a semi-final meeting with Tommy Paul, the American who had previously defeated Hubert Hurkacz 7-6(4), 6-3. Sinner is playing his first tournament since the Australian Open in January, and he is aiming to become the second Italian men's singles champion in Rome after Adriano Panatta's victory in 1976.
Ruud's performance declined in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open (Photo: Getty).
With Lorenzo Musetti also reaching the semi-finals, Sinner's victory marks the first time in the Open Era that two players have reached the semi-finals at the Italian Open. It's also the first time in Masters 1000 history (since 1990) that two Italian players have reached the semi-finals of the same event. Based on how easily he ended Ruud's nine-match winning streak, Sinner is confident he can continue Italy's 49-year wait for a men's singles champion in Rome.
"We had a head-to-head record, I could have looked at that. Each of us had one or two opponents that we struggled a little more with. I tried to replicate what I've done in the past. I hit the ball very well today. Playing against Ruud at night was a little more advantageous for me, because he couldn't make the ball bounce as much as he'd like," Sinner said. The Italian player extended his head-to-head record against Ruud to 4-0.
Sinner was in superb form, but Ruud's performance was unusually poor. The Norwegian lost eight consecutive games and struggled to save two break points to successfully hold his first service game. However, that was his only notable moment in the match; Ruud then lost four more games, allowing his opponent to finish the match.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/sinner-thang-hoa-ruc-ro-tien-vao-ban-ket-italian-open-20250516072236193.htm
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