Monte Carlo: Ruud upset Djokovic to reach final

Casper Ruud captured the biggest win of his career by PIF ATP Ranking on Saturday at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters when he upset World No. 1 Novak Djokovic 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 to reach his second ATP Masters 1000 final and first since 2022.

The Norwegian had never won a set off Djokovic in the pair’s previous five Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings but played close to his best against the top seed to advance to his third final of the season.

“I am super happy,” Ruud said. “This is a day I will remember for a long time. Beating a World No. 1 is something I have never done and beating Novak is something I have never done. I am very, very happy. I am a little bit in a state of shock right now.

“I was up in the third and he came back, typical how good these guys are under pressure. And I was thinking please don’t let this slip away and 0/40 in the last game, it is not done. When he missed the first serve [at 30/40], he saved so many break points in crazy ways, with huge second serves. I prayed one time, let it be a double fault and something above listened and of course it was unfortunate to end the match with a double fault but for me it was nice to see that ball sail long.”

Ruud has won nine of his 10 tour-level titles on clay but has never triumphed above ATP 250 level. He has also reached three Grand Slam finals, as well as the title match at the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals. In his second ATP Masters 1000 final (Miami 2022), Ruud will meet Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday in Monte-Carlo.