Tsitsipas straight sets Ruud to reach Mubadala final

In a battle between the world’s third and fourth highest ranked men’s players, it was No 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas who came out on top and scored a straight sets win over No 3 Casper Ruud to advance to the final of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Tsitsipas put in a dominant display of tennis to beat Ruud, a two-time Grand Slam runner-up this year, 6-2, 6-2.

The 24-year-old Greek broke his Norwegian opponent’s serve in the first and fifth games of the first set to win it easily 6-2. He then broke again in the fifth and seventh games in the second set to complete the win without facing a single break point against his own serve.

“Overall, [my game] is there” – Tsitsipas happy with semi-final performance

Tsitsipas, a finalist at this tournament in 2019, will meet either top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz or defending champion Andrey Rublev in Sunday’s final. Ruud will also play on Sunday, against the loser of the Alcaraz/ Rublev match for third place in the tournament.

“Overall, [my game] is there. I was able to close off points at the net and rip forehands from time to time, my movement seems to be good, I’m happy with how I responded to difficult shots, and the serve was good today,” Tsitsipas said as quoted by The National.

Ruud admitted that his opponent was simply too good on the day. “Stef was just too good and better than me at everything,” he said. “If he plays like this, he’s going to be a danger for anyone.”

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