Paul into maiden Indian Wells semi-final after holding off resurgent Ruud

American Tommy Paul, the No 17 seed, beat Norwegian Casper Ruud, the No 9 seed, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 to move into the last four of the Indian Wells Masters at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Thursday evening.

The victory sees Paul make his second-ever Masters 1000 semi-final and first in Indian Wells, having made the final four of the Toronto Masters last year.

Paul played an attacking brand of tennis, coming out with a clear game plan and taking it to Ruud immediately to claim the opening set 6-1.

“It’s awesome,” declared Paul on-court after his win over Ruud. “Live and die by the sword.”

“I’m really pumped with how I’m playing, I like with how I’m playing in the pressure points, the big points in the match.”

Ruud fights back, Paul holds on

With Ruud in fine form this year, it’s no surprise that the Norwegian fought back in the second set to make a match of it.

“Casper came out in the second set and completely changed the momentum. I was playing the match on his terms in the second,” confessed Paul. “In the third set, he had some chances. I could have got down on myself, but I think I did a good job regrouping and getting it done.”

In a bizarre twist, Paul broke his string on match point, but still managed to close out the game.

“Couldn’t believe it. Broke it on the serve, which I never do,” laughed Paul.

Paul, ranked No 17, will play the winner of the match between Russian Daniil Medvedev, the No 4 seed, and Dane Holger Rune, the No 7 seed, next.

In the previous rounds of the Indian Wells Tennis Masters, the American won against Alex Michelsen (6-2, 6-2), Frenchman Ugo Humbert, the No 14 seed (6-4, 6-4) and Italian lucky loser Luca Nardi (6-4, 6-3).

Ruud, ranked No 9, won against Slovak qualifier Lukas Klein (6-4, 7-6 (4)), Frenchman Arthur Fils (6-2, 6-4) and Frenchman Gael Monfils (3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4) earlier in the tournament.

Indian Wells Masters 1000, other quarter-finals results (Indian Wells Tennis Garden, hard, USD 9.495.555, most recent results first):

• Daniil Medvedev vs. Holger Rune
• Alexander Zverev vs. Carlos Alcaraz
• Jannik Sinner (3) beat Jiri Lehecka (32): 6-3, 6-3