Jannik Sinner had his best performance since returning to tennis against Casper Ruud in the Italian Open quarter-final.
Sinner dismantled Ruud, cruising to victory in straight sets, dropping just one game in a match that lasted 67 minutes.
The Norwegian was in fine form coming into the contest, and was on a nine-game winning streak dating back to the beginning of the Madrid Open, where Ruud won his first Masters 1000 title, but the clay court specialist was unable to build any momentum against the world number one.
Sinner enjoyed a sub-half-hour bagel in the first set and finished the job comfortably, with the match ending 6-0, 6-1 in favour of the three-time Grand Slam champion.
It would appear that the 23-year-old star hasn’t lost a step since his return from suspension, and after his dominant victory, Ruud explained just how well his Italian Open conqueror played.
Casper Ruud says Jannik Sinner’s performance against him was nearly ‘perfect’
When asked to describe his opponent’s performance, Ruud said: “It’s as near as perfect that I witnessed, at least as a player playing someone.”
“Just got to give it to him. I mean, the first four games, I did maybe a couple unforced errors [with] my forehand where I went for it, but I missed.”
“Everything else that came out of his racket and throughout the whole match, as well, feels like a hundred miles an hour plus.”
“Every single shot from the forehand, from the backhand. Even on my shots that I feel at times are pretty heavy, it comes back just firing.”
The Madrid Open champion concluded: “It’s just immensely impressive. That’s really all I can say.”
Casper Ruud says if Jannik Sinner is underrated on clay after Italian Open defeat
Ruud gave his verdict on whether Sinner is underrated on clay when stating: “Maybe [he is] by people. I don’t know. I don’t underrate him at all on any surface.”
“He was in the semis in Paris last year, semis here this year, which I believe is his best result here.”
“He definitely has more. He can go for even more here. Semis of Monte-Carlo last year, I mean, I know he can play really well.”
“In the semis of Paris, he took Carlos to five sets. It’s not a secret that he plays well here. So far in his career, he hasn’t had as much success here on this surface, but there’s no reason why he can’t when he plays like this.”
Ruud’s record against Sinner is now 0-4, having failed to beat the Italian three consecutive times on hard court before their clash in Rome.
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