Ruud books 25th clay semi-final in Estoril, title defence on track

Norwegian Casper Ruud, the top seed, moved into the semi-finals of the Estoril Open by winning against Hungarian Marton Fucsovics 6-3, 6-2 at Clube de Ténis do Estoril on Friday evening.

Ruud has now won six in a row at the Estoril tournament, having lifted the trophy in 2023. He also makes his 33rd ATP semi-final, 25 of which have been reached on clay.

“It was a good match from my side,” Ruud declared after the victory over Fucsovics. “I’ve seen Marton play better. He was struggling a bit physically. Unfortunate for him. I’m happy to be into the semifinals. Straight sets is perfect. Now I’ll have extra time to recover for tomorrow.”

The Norwegian broke his opponent three times, saving the one break point he faced on his own serve. Fucsovics, who had impressed so far this week with wins over Gael Monfils and Pedro Cachin, struggled across the match with an injury that restricted his movement.

Ruud, ranked No 8, will play Spaniard Pedro Martinez next.

The Norwegian defeated Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp (6-1, 6-2) ahead of his victory.

In the previous rounds of the Estoril tournament, Fucsovics, ranked No 85, beat Argentinian Pedro Cachin (7-5, 6-2) and edged out Frenchman Gael Monfils, the No 7 seed (1-6, 6-1, 7-5).

Estoril ATP 250, other last eight results (Clube de Ténis do Estoril, clay, EUR 579.320, most recent results first):

• Pedro Martinez beat Richard Gasquet (LL): 6-4, 6-4
• Cristian Garin beat Nuno Borges: 6-2, 7-6 (3)
• Hubert Hurkacz (2) beat Pablo Llamas Ruiz (Q): 7-6 (4), 6-4