ATP Madrid Masters: Ruud returns to the top 10 and will compete for the title with British brother Draper

On May 2, local time, the ATP1000 Madrid Masters men's singles final lineup was produced. Great Britain No.5 seed Draper defeated 10th seed Musetti 6-3, 7-6(4) to reach his second Masters final of the season and his first on clay. With this victory, Draper surpassed Zverev to move up to No.2 in the championship standings leading to the ATP Finals. Draper won his first Masters title at Indian Wells in March, and he is now assured of his first top-five finish next week.

Draper (Photo: Visual China)

'I think both of us have maintained a high level from the first point of the game. Draper said after the match that he had won all four meetings with Musetti, "Lorenzo [Musetti] has been fantastic, obviously he has a high level on clay, we played against each other on hard and grass as teenagers, we grew up together, but on clay he can be completely different, so it means a lot to me to beat him in the semi-finals of the Madrid Masters." ”

This is the second time in his career that Musetti has reached the semi-finals of the Masters, and the Italian finished runner-up in the men's singles at last month's Monte Carlo Masters (losing to Alcaraz) and will be ranked in the top 10 for the first time next week, becoming the sixth Italian to reach the top 10 since the ATP introduced the ranking system in 1973.

Ruud (Photo: Visual China)

Draper will face 14th seed Ruud in the final, both of whom are making their first appearances in the Madrid title race. Ruud defeated 20th seed Serundolo 6-4, 7-5 in the semi-finals and will return to the top 10 in the world rankings next week. This is Ruud's third Masters final (Miami 2022, Monte Carlo 2024), having lost to Alcaraz and Tsitsipas in his first two finals.

Ruud, who suffered a rib discomfort after only three games and called a medical timeout, explained in his post-match interview: "I wasn't sure if I was going to finish the match, I felt pain in my ribs in the warm-up, just before I was about to play. I could feel pain every time I hit the ball, especially the serve. Luckily, I was treated quickly, it was only three minutes, so there wasn't much I could do. I took some painkillers, which was certainly not the ideal situation, and I could only play game by game, but as the game went on, it got better and better. ”

Ruud and Draper will meet for the first time in the final of the Madrid Masters, and if Ruud wins the tournament, he will become the first Masters winner from Norway since the ATP established the Masters in 1990. If Draper wins, he will win his second Masters title and become only the second Briton after Andy Murray to win both the hard court and clay Masters.

WTA1000 Madrid's Women's Singles final will be played tomorrow at 0:30 a.m. Beijing time, and Sabalenka and Gauff will meet for the 10th time, after Gauff had a slight advantage of 5-4.

(Text, Editor/Faye Wong)