Casper Ruud upsets Novak Djokovic as world No. 1 crashes out of Monte Carlo Masters - 'In a state of shock'
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Updated 13/04/2024 at 19:36 GMT
The world No. 1 followed the world No. 2 in being defeated in the Monte Carlo semi-finals, as Casper Ruud recorded his first victory over Novak Djokovic to make the final in Monaco. Ruud will take on Stefanos Tsitsipas for the title, after the Greek player knocked out the in-form Jannik Sinner earlier on. Ruud has shown a real liking for clay during his career.
Watch highlights as Tsitsipas beats Sinner to reach Monte Carlo Masters final
On a day of upsets in the Principality, Casper Ruud beat Novak Djokovic in the Monte Carlo Masters to make the final for the first time.
He beat the world No. 1 6-4 1-6 6-4, with Djokovic serving a double fault at match-point down to gift his opponent the crucial break and the victory.
The last point might have been a donation but the match as a whole was not, with Ruud playing some exceptional tennis as he kept the pressure on Djokovic in the crucial moments, not letting his opponent settle on a hot and sultry day in Monte Carlo.
It will be Stefanos Tsitsipas against Ruud for the Monte Carlo title on Sunday, with the Greek player having beaten Jannik Sinner in the opening semi-final.
“Tomorrow is going to be a special day, first time playing in a final in Monte Carlo, I’ll give it my all. Stef is playing well, he’s a great player on clay - clay is where he’s had the most success, but I’m up for it,” said Ruud.
Ruud and Djokovic had last met in the final of Roland-Garros last season, the Serbian running out a straight-sets winner that day. Not helping Ruud’s case on paper ahead of their semi-final was the fact that as well as Djokovic leading their head-to-head 5-0, the Norwegian had never taken a set off the world No. 1 in any encounter.
Despite that worrying record, it was Ruud who started the brighter, breaking Djokovic in the first game. The Norwegian world No. 10 was troubling Djokovic with the accuracy of his groundstrokes, with the error count mounting for the Serbian.
Ruud served for a 5-1 lead after breaking a second time, the crowd sensing a second upset of the day following Tsitsipas’ victory over Sinner earlier on. But Djokovic seemed to steady himself and broke straight back, as his forehand began to find its mark. Holding again, Djokovic forced Ruud to serve it out.
Serving it out is what Ruud did with no sign of any nerves to take his first set against Djokovic 6-4. 16 unforced errors - most coming from the forehand side - doing the damage for Djokovic.
Ruud knew a response would be incoming. Djokovic held and then broke at the start of the second set to lead 3-0.
The second set flew by with Djokovic taking it 6-1, his forehand doing the damage as Ruud looked powerless from the back of the court, unable to deal with the angles his opponent was creating from seemingly nowhere.
Ruud regrouped at the change of ends, coming out and breaking Djokovic first up at the start of the deciding set - although he had a helping hand from his opponent, who threw in five unforced errors in the opening two games.
It was the out-of-sorts Djokovic from the opening set who had made a late reappearance, the Serbian looking tired as he tried to fight back from 3-0 down. Even his impressive returns started to go missing, with Ruud looking unflappable at the other end of the court.
Somehow with Ruud leading 4-2, Djokovic managed to string together not just some winners, but some momentum as he broke back - raising a fist in the air as the crowd took to their feet such was the quality on show after some error-strewn games.
With Ruud’s serving looking solid, he took a 5-4 lead to leave Djokovic serving to stay in the match, and the Serbian player threw in a double fault at match-point down to gift Ruud an incredible victory in Monaco, and a first over his opponent.
“Just super happy, this is a day I will remember for a really long time – beating a world No. 1 is something I’ve never done, beating Novak is something I’ve never done," Ruud said. "I’m just a little bit in a state of shock, I just didn’t want to let it slip away.
“When he missed the first serve, he’s saved so many break points in these moments with a huge second serve and I thought let it be a double fault. For me, it was nice to see that ball slip away.”
Ruud does not have long to recover from the "shock" of his victory as he will take on Tsitsipas on Sunday for the title. The duo have met this year, with Ruud a straight-sets winner in Los Cabos. They have not met on clay since 2021, when Ruud won in Madrid.
As for the defeated Djokovic and Sinner, the top two seeds have some thinking to do ahead of the continuation of one of the most open and hotly anticipated clay-court swings in recent memory.
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