Emil Ruusuvuori earned his first ATP Head2Head win in six tries against Jannik Sinner on Friday at the Libema Open to advance to his maiden grass-court semi-final. The 24-year-old Finn did not lose a first-serve point (29/29) or face a break point in a 6-3, 6-4 victory.
The victory improved Ruusuvuori to 8-6 on grass in his career, with his previous best result on the surface a quarter-final run last year as a qualifier at The Queen’s Club.
Prior to this week in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, he had reached the quarter-finals at just one event this season across all surfaces: the Miami ATP Masters 1000 (l. to Sinner). “It was a great performance overall. He’s a hell of a player,” Ruusuvuori said of his quarter-final win. “Before this I’m 0-5 against him head-to-head. It’s a difficult match always to go after him, but I just gave my everything and today I was playing very well and able to get the win, so I’m very happy.”
Ruusuvuori’s third Top 10 win saw him advance to his first ATP Tour semi-final since last October in Stockholm.
Behind his dominant display on serve, Ruusuvuori swung freely in the rallies and constantly kept his second-seeded opponent under pressure from the baseline. A mid-set break was enough to win both sets. From 40/0 in his final service game, Ruusuvuori needed three match points to close out the win, with a Sinner challenge erasing a would-be second-serve ace at 40/15. Undeterred, the Finn fired a big serve and forehand to seal the deal on the next point.
With the defeat, Sinner fell to 5-3 in quarter-finals this season and 5-6 overall on grass. Still seeking his first semi-final on the surface, his best grass-court result is his Wimbledon quarter-final run from last season. The Italian took a two-sets-to-love lead against eventual champion Novak Djokovic at the major but ultimately lost in five sets.
Today’s ‘s-Hertogenbosch semi-finals will see Ruusuvuori take on sixth seed and home favourite Tallon Griekspoor, after the Dutchman’s 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win against fourth seed Alex de Minaur.
The opposite semi-final will be an all-Aussie affair, with Jordan Thompson taking on Rinky Hijikata. Both unseeded players earned comeback victories yesterday: Thompson was a 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-2 winner against Adrian Mannarino, while Hijikata defeated Mackenzie McDonald 5-7, 6-3, 6-1.
Tiafoe masters Musetti, Fucsovics downs Fritz in Stuttgart
Frances Tiafoe advanced to his maiden tour-level semi-final on grass yesterday when he moved past Italian Lorenzo Musetti 6-7(6), 7-6(4), 6-2 at the BOSS OPEN in Stuttgart.
In an entertaining clash at the ATP 250, Tiafoe recovered from squandering three set points in the first set, holding his nerve in the second set before racing clear in the decider.
The American was aggressive off short balls throughout the two-hour, 42-minute clash, firing 45 winners to level his ATP Head2Head series against the 21-year-old at 2-2.
“He is obviously a very good player,” Tiafoe said.
“We have always had tough battles, first time on grass. He could have made it a little more straight forward for me but it is good to get through.”
With his 25th win of the season, Tiafoe set a semi-final meeting against Hungarian qualifier Marton Fucsovics. The third seed Tiafoe is chasing his third tour-level title and second of the season this week, having triumphed on clay in Houston in April.
Tiafoe is making his debut in Stuttgart, with his best result on grass prior to this week runs to the quarter-finals at The Queen’s Club in 2018 and 2021.
The 25-year-old is up one place to No 11 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings and will break the Top 10 for the first time if he wins the trophy in Germany.
In the second quarter-final of the day, Fucsovics earned his third Top 10 win when he defeated World No 8 Taylor Fritz 6-4, 7-5.
The 31-year-old, who is chasing his second tour-level title this week (Geneva 2018), won 84 per cent (36/43) of his first-serve points to advance after one hour and 42 minutes.
Into his fourth tour-level semi-final and first since Rotterdam in 2021, Fucsovics will look to keep his run going against Tiafoe today.
In other action, Hubert Hurkacz defeated Christopher O’Connell 6-4, 6-4 to reach his second tour-level semi-final of the season.