One of the best Masters 1000 tournaments for Norwegian tennis player Casper Ruud is the Italian Open in Rome with high confidence.
The fourth seed’s confidence proved to be helpful when he faced Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik in the third round.
Bublik drew the crowd’s support with a shot selection that has often left many in awe, but the Norwegian international appeared solid when he needed it most and eventually prevailed 6-1 4-6 7-6 for a place in the fourth round of the Italian Open. where he reached the semifinals of the tournament in his last two appearances in the tournament.
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“This has been a very good tournament for me in my career. I made it to the semifinals here twice and both times I lost to Novak Djokovic. So, it’s like showing that I have beaten many expert tennis players until I face one of the best tennis players,” said Casper Ruud,
“I have many fond memories of this place and the Italian fans have been amazing, even though this time they may have been more supportive of Bublik. It’s been an amazing experience playing on this court, Pietrangeli.”
“It’s a very special court and you can see it’s almost always full in every game, it doesn’t matter who is playing, so it’s really nice and gives me a positive feeling to be in Rome.”
As usual, Bublik used every punch to put the fourth seed uncomfortable. After falling behind in the deciding set tiebreak, the Kazakh national tennis player was still able to return the service of the fourth seed.
But at the most critical moment, the runner up for the 2022 French Open appeared convincing from the baseline area and forced Bublik to return the ball inaccurately.
“In the tiebreak, I was just very lucky, didn’t make any mistakes, and it was really nice to have a 6/0 lead,” said Ruud.
Ruud will next face Laslo Djere in the fourth round. The Serb had an easier third round match after his Chilean opponent Cristian Garin withdrew from the match as the Serb took a 6-3, 2-1 lead.
In other actions, the host’s favorite tennis player, Jannik Sinner, also had to exert his best before beating Alexander Shevchenko 6-3, 6-7, 6-2 in the third round.
“I think I’m pretty in my zone, trying to make the most of every point,” said Sinner. “I missed a few points, especially in the second set and in the tiebreak, but you have to trim that part and then try to be ready for the third set, which I did. And I reacted really well.”
“Trying to take all the positives. For sure, I won the game, so I’m very happy and I’m happy that I can play one more game here in Rome.”
For a place in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open, eighth seed Sinner will challenge 24th seed Francisco Cerundolo who eliminated Frenchman Gregoire Barrere 6-7 6-2 6-2.
