Ruud rallies to Indian Wells QFs

Casper Ruud is into his first BNP Paribas Open quarter-final after defeating Gael Monfils 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 on Wednesday.

The Norwegian produced all-court coverage throughout the two-hour, 27-minute battle in which he sent Monfils from corner-to-corner in lengthy rallies, some of which lasted more than 20 shots.

Despite struggling to hit past the athletic Frenchman in the opening set, Ruud kept his composure and found an alternative solution: move forward to shorten points and cut off any angles. After only moving forward twice in the opening set, he finished the match having won 16 of 20 net points.

"I felt physically good and ready," said Ruud, who has saved 10 of 11 break points faced this tournament. "Really tough second set, it fortunately went my way. I saved a few break points there and was clutch enough in the tie-break."

Ruud earned his lone break of the match in the third game of the deciding set, deflating Monfils’ quest to become the sixth oldest player to reach an ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final since the series began in 1990.

Ruud continued to wear down the 37-year-old, who played a three-hour, 12-minute third-round match against Cameron Norrie, and was sharp on serve in the decider to improve to 1-1 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Monfils. Having climbed three spots this fortnight up to No. 8 in the PIF ATP Live Race to Turin, Ruud is 4-0 in deciding sets this season.

“I think last year it was the other way around, I lost many close matches and a lot of three-setters didn’t go my way,” Ruud said. “This year, the goal has been to get a good start in three-setters. When you’re kind of on a roll in three-setters, it’s easier to keep it going. In the back of your mind, ‘Last week, I won three three-setters, so why not do it again?’”

Boasting a 16-3 season record, the World No. 8 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings will next face 17th seed Tommy Paul. Ruud has now reached the quarter-finals or better at eight of the nine ATP Masters 1000 events.

Attack more, Attack better ⚔️ 🎾@CasperRuud98 increased his #InAttack & #Conversion to win in 3sets;

Set 1 23% #InAttack & 56% #Conversion
Set 2 33% #InAttack & 70% #Conversion
Set 3 33% #InAttack & 83% #Conversion#TennisInsights | @atptour | @BNPPARIBASOPEN pic.twitter.com/MnxH17WDMq

— Tennis Insights (@tennis_insights) March 13, 2024

The American Paul ended the dream run of lucky loser Luca Nardi, who stunned Novak Djokovic in the third round. Paul swung freely and maintained an aggressive baseline position, sealing a 6-4, 6-3 victory.

“It was a cool matchup today. He played really well and we pushed each other early in the first set and then I started getting really comfortable coming to the net,” said Paul, who won 15 of 18 net points, according to Infosys ATP stats.

World No. 17 Paul is into his fourth Masters 1000 quarter-final and first on home soil. He is 13-4 this season and is yet to drop a set this fortnight.