Novak Djokovic's run at the 2024 Monte-Carlo Masters ended in the semi-final as a very inspired Casper Ruud bested him.
Before this match, the Norwegian had never beaten Djokovic, failing to do so five times. One of those was in the Roland Garros final, which was a really painful loss for Ruud, but he avenged it now.
He found a solution for his Djokovic problem at the Monte-Carlo Masters, beating him in three sets. Obviously, Djokovic is not close to his peak this week, nor has he reached it at any point this year.
It's been a really shaky year so far, but some of this week's performances were pretty good. This semi-final match was also solid from the 24-time major winner, but Ruud outplayed him for much of this match.
The first set opened with an early break for Ruud, which was about as ideal as possible for him. It allowed him to ease himself into the match, and that's exactly what happened when he took a 4-1 lead later.
Djokovic would pull one back later but didn't have enough to overturn the score, as Ruud won the opening set 6-4. The second set was a proper comeback from the Serbian, who took an early break, which shifted the momentum in his favor.
He kept applying pressure and ultimately saw Ruud unravel quite a bit, so the set ended 6-1 for the Serbian. Neither player served well in that second set, but it hurt Ruud far more as he lost the rhythm he had during those rallies.
When it came to outhitting Djokovic in the rallies, he didn't quite manage to do so. What was impressive was Ruud's comeback in the third set. He came out laser-focused and jumped out immediately to take a 3-0 lead.
He was perfect in those three games, with six winners and no unforced errors, unlike Djokovic, who had four winners and three unforced errors. Ruud lost the one-break advantage, but he regained it in the tenth game, when Djokovic ended the match with a double fault.
Ruud reached the 2024 Monte-Carlo Masters final, with the final score of his match against Djokovic being 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.
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