MIAMI OPEN PRESENTED BY ITAú

March 30, 2022

Casper Ruud

Mixed Zone Interview

C. RUUD/A. Zverev

6-3, 1-6, 6-3

Q. It's the fourth semifinal in a Masters 1000 tournament but it's the first one in hard court. How are you feeling?

CASPER RUUD: I feel a little bit good. I mean, it's obviously an exciting night and the biggest win of my career so far.

This is now the fourth time I'm reaching a semifinal in a Masters 1000 event, and like you said, first time on hard court so that means it's a little bit extra special for me.

Let's see if I can take what I have learned from the three previous semifinals where unfortunately I lost all of them and see if I can turn it around and make the fourth time the lucky charm.

Q. Take us through the match. Obviously you won the first set. You were being very aggressive. You give him no chances. What changed in the second set? Did you just went back to the same strategy in the first set or did you change something?

CASPER RUUD: No, I think I started great, like I have done the previous matches. I started very well, and I got an early break, which obviously helped. Was serving good today. I think I had 75% first serves in, which is key when you are playing Sascha because he's a great returner.

The second set I was feeling a little, some just issues with the taping of my toe. I know it sounds a little bit silly maybe, but it was slipping off my toe, so it was a little uncomfortable to move, so I just had to redo it after the second set to keep it sticky again. Changed my socks and everything.

It's quite humid here, as everyone knows. I'm sweating a lot, so therefore I had to redo the tape. Third set I was able to move a little bit better and freely. Got an early break in the third as well and was able to serve it out.

I think that sums up pretty much the match. Was staying aggressive especially with my forehand from the back and trying to make him play and show him that I was there for the fight.

Q. You have a better ranking. That's why you'll be the favorite. Will you take initiative against Cerundolo? You never play against him. It's a good match, right?

CASPER RUUD: Yeah, I hope I can take initiative, of course. Let's see. I have never played against him and I haven't watched him play too much, to be honest.

But obviously he's had a great climb in the ranking in the past two, three years. When I was a junior, he's same age as me, I believe, but no one really heard about him because he didn't play too much juniors.

Now in the past years he's climbed up well, and this week is probably the best week of his career. He's in a good flow, so my job will of course be to try to stop him. Let's see if I can, let's see if I can't, but I will give my best as always. It will be an exciting match on Friday, I hope.

Q. Kyrgios had an issue yesterday with the conditions in the Grandstand. You played in the Grandstand yesterday. Today you played in the Stadium. Did you feel any difference in terms of the speed of the surface, like did you notice anything different?

CASPER RUUD: No, not really. First day I got here I practiced on center court with Medvedev and was a good practice. Since then I haven't been able to play on the center until today.

I didn't feel too much difference, to be honest. It's a little more -- Stadium is obviously bigger, so you don't get as much wind inside the Stadium as on the outside courts, but that was the only difference I could tell.

It was nice conditions today, playing in nighttime and, yeah, I was just feeling good out there.

Q. How do you feel physically? What happened in the second set?

CASPER RUUD: I just said but I had some issues with the taping of my toe, and the tape came off because I'm sweating a lot, so just had to redo the tape and it was good enough. Nothing too much luckily, and hope I can stay fit and be ready for Friday.