Google News
Rising Finnish star Emil Ruusuori showed his respect for former world No. 7 Richard Gasquet following their clash at the Winston-Salem Open. Ruusuvuori, ranked at No. 76 in the world, handed a 7-6 (5) 6-1 loss to Gasquet in the Winstom-Salem Open quarterfinal.
Gasquet paid the price for failing to serve out for the first set in the 10th game as Ruusuvuori stole the opener in the tie-break. After losing a tight first set, Gasquet's game fell apart as Ruusuvuori claimed three breaks in the second set to book a straight-set win.
“I thought that first set was a very high level. He’s a great player. He’s been playing on tour almost more years than I have in my life,” Ruusuvuori said, per the ATP website. “The break back [in the first set] was key.
Obviously, we saw that everything wasn’t quite there physically with him so that’s a pity”.
Ruusuvuori plays Ilya Ivashka next
Ivashka surprised No. 1 seed Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6 (2) 6-3 to set up a Ruusuvuori clash.
“Of course it’s a great feeling. I had a great match today. These conditions suit me,” Ivashka said. “I think he had more pressure because he’s the top seed so for me it was a good challenge to see what my level is and to compete with these guys, so for me it was a great match.
“I think I was playing very aggressive and I was not giving a lot of time to him, trying to push him from the return from the baseline. I was trying to go to the net to play as aggressively as I could and it worked”.
Ivashka lost just nine points on his serve against Carreno Busta. “It could be one of the best [serving performances of season]. I was not thinking during the match about this statistic but it was obviously working well because he didn’t have a break point and he’s a great returner,” Ivashka said. “If I gave him more chances I think he would be harder”.