Casper Ruud reveals why he was desperate to defeat Daniil Medvedev for once at Madrid Open

Casper Ruud joked about why he absolutely didn't want to lose to Daniil Medvedev after defeating the Russian in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Madrid Open. The Norwegian defeated Arthur Rinderknech, 23rd seed Sebastian Korda, and third seed Taylor Fritz to reach the final 8.

14th seed Ruud and ninth seed Medvedev set up an exciting clash in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open, and though both players delivered some high-quality tennis, it was the Norwegian who emerged victorious with a 6-3, 7-5 scoreline. This was his first win over the Russian on his fourth attempt.

During the interview, Casper Ruud addressed how he has lost to Daniil Medvedev on grass courts, indoor, and outdoor hardcourts, and he didn't want to go down 4-0 in their head-to-head by losing on clay, which is the 26-year-old's forte.

"I looked at the stats last night and saw [Medvedev] beat me on grass, outdoor hard court, indoor hard court. Last surface remaining [is] clay, so please don't make it 4-0. At least it's 3-1 now."

Ruud lost to Medvedev at the 2020 ATP Cup, which was conducted on an outdoor hardcourt, following which he lost to the Russian in Mallorca in 2021, a grass court event. The third defeat came at the 2021 Nitto ATP Finals, which is played on the indoor hard courts.

Though the two-time French Open finalist had a poor start to his European clay swing, with a quick exit at the Monte Carlo Masters, followed by a failure in defending his title in Barcelona, he seems to have bounced back in some style at the Madrid Masters.

Casper Ruud wins his seventh consecutive Masters 1000 quarterfinal on clay

Casper Ruud after his quarterfinal win at the 2025 Madrid Masters - Source: Getty

Casper Ruud's prowess on clay is not a secret to any tennis fan. The Norwegian has consistently been proving his mettle on the surface for many years now, and even has a couple of French Open finals to show for it.

With his win over Daniil Medvedev at the Madrid Open, the former World No. 2 has extended his win streak in the quarterfinals of the clay Masters 1000 to seven. The streak started in Rome in 2020, when he defeated Matteo Berrettini from a set down, and since then, he has made it to the semifinals of at least one Masters 1000 on clay every year.

Casper Ruud also became the third active player to have 30 ATP semifinals on clay, joining Novak Djokovic and Fabio Fognini. In the semifinals, he will play the winner of Jakub Mensik vs Francisco Cerundolo.