Who wins their maiden crown at the Spanish capital?
Jack Draper and Casper Ruud emerged victorious in their respective semifinal battles to book a spot in Sunday’s Mutua Madrid Open 2025 final. Draper produced a scintillating performance against the in-form Lorenzo Musetti to win 6-3 7-6(4) in the second semifinal. Earlier in the day, No. 14 seed Casper Ruud beat Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina in straight sets. Cerundolo took out top seed Alexander Zverev in the Round of 16.
Here’s what happened on semifinal Friday:
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In the opening match of the day, two-time Roland Garros finalist Casper Ruud kicked off proceedings. Both players have a compact technique and terrific groundstrokes to back it up. Clay is also arguably their best surface. It was the No. 20 seed Cerundolo who made the first big move by breaking Ruud to love in the fifth game. However, the Norwegian broke right back before snatching Cerundolo’s service game again to close out the opening set.
Merely three games into the battle, Ruud was given some treatment on his rib. Yet, the 26-year-old remained unfazed – he saved 15 out of 18 break points during the course of the match. In Set-2, it was Cerundolo who kept making the inroads again. However, Ruud ensured that he broke back every single time he gave up his own service game. On serve at 6-5, he claimed the decisive break, as well as the match.
Ruud required 1 hour and 54 minutes to overcome the Cerundolo challenge on Friday. Having recently dropped out of the ATP Top-10, the former World No. 2 has ensured a return when the new rankings are released on Monday. “I wasn’t sure [if] I was going to be able to finish the match honestly,” he said post match. Yesterday, Ruud extended a supporting hand to Iga Swiatek after her exit from Madrid. Today, he ensured that he didn’t follow suit.
Result: Ruud def. Cerundolo 6-4 7-5.
Draper and Musetti entered this contest on a high note – for slightly different reasons. While the British southpaw received the news that he is confirmed to enter the Top-5 on Monday, Musetti will make his Top-10 debut next week. In the opening set, there were three consecutive breaks of serve. Draper’s forehand was unsurprisingly fierce, leading to 8 winners and just 8 unforced errors. Winning nearly 75% points on first serve, the 23-year-old US Open semifinalist grabbed the first set.
The second set turned out to be a masterclass in holding serve. While it was the Brit who was hitting all the right spots in the opener, Musetti managed to serve more aces than his counterpart in Set-2. The Paris Olympics bronze medalist hit way more winners than unforced errors this time around, unlike Set-1. With no signs of a break of serve, we headed to a tiebreaker.
With the set hanging in the balance, Jack Draper took control. Although they were mostly forced errors, Musetti began crumbling under the pressure. He eventually fell to a tight straight sets loss after nearly two hours of quality tennis. As a result, Draper has now entered his second Masters-1000 final, and his first on clay.
Result: Draper def. Musetti 6-3 7-6(4).
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Who is going to win the 2025 Madrid Open championship? Will it be Draper or Ruud? We will have all the answers in less than two days.
