ATP Tour

Ruud saves 2 MPs to outlast Tsitsipas in Madrid R4 thriller

Defending champion Casper Ruud continued his Mutua Madrid Open title defence in thrilling fashion on Tuesday when he saved two match points to edge Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(4), 6-7(2), 7-6(3).

"I was on the brink of being on the way home already," Ruud said following his fourth-round victory. "Just really happy and proud of the way I fought back.

"The first two sets were really close. In the third set, I felt like I had a better beginning."

Facing two match points on serve at 3-5 in the decider, Ruud maintained his composure. He saved the first with a clean forehand winner, then wiped out the second when Tsitsipas misfired a backhand return.

Despite having converted only one of the 12 break points he carved, according to Infosys ATP Stats, Ruud refused to give up. The Norwegian eventually sealed the two-hour, 57-minute win in the final-set tie-break and let out a joyous roar following his comeback triumph.

"I was frustrated about this," Ruud said of his break point conversion rate. "I knew I had many [chances]. I had a couple of games with 0/40 and 15/40, and I felt like he served big at all of them. Well done by him, serving himself out of it."

With the win, the Norwegian improved to 4-2 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Tsitsipas. Ruud will face Alexander Blockx for a place in the semi-finals.

Blockx, who upset third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the third round, continued his Madrid run on Tuesday when he defeated 16th seed Francisco Cerundolo 7-6(8), 6-2 to reach the last eight.

The Belgian crucially saved a set point at 6/7 in the first set tie-break, before riding his momentum through a one-hour and 38-minute victory to reach his first quarter-final at the ATP Masters 1000 level. The 21-year-old also fended off all eight break points he faced.

With his fourth-round triumph in the Spanish capital, Blockx has jumped seven spots to No. 46 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings and is set to rise to a career high on Monday. The 21-year-old is now the second Belgian quarter-finalist in tournament history after David Goffin reached that stage in 2017.