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Ruud advanced to the semifinals, where he'll face another
Russian, Daniil Medvedev, who is the defending champion at the
season-ending event and went 3-0 in group play.
"I am just enjoying the moment," Ruud said. "I am looking
forward to (Saturday) already. It is going to be another tough
battle, different kind of player from today, but one of the best
in the world and he has proven himself as one of the best over
the past two or three years."
Top seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia was already guaranteed the top
spot in the green group, but he polished off his round-robin
effort 3-0 as well Friday by taking down second alternate
Cameron Norrie of Great Britain 6-2, 6-1. Djokovic will play
German Alexander Zverev in the semis.
Ruud, 22, is by far the least experienced player of those still
standing and the only one ranked outside the top three in world.
But the Norwegian had a strong season and won five singles
titles -- including three events on clay in a row in July. He
won his first non-clay title at the hard-court San Diego Open
last month.
Ruud saved seven of 11 break points Friday while breaking
Rublev's serve three times in five chances. Both players smashed
14 aces. He trailed the third-set tiebreak 2-1 before ripping
off four of the next five points and eventually winning on his
second match point.
"The court is playing very fast and Andrey plays very fast,"
Ruud said in his on-court interview. "He rips the ball harder
than anyone on the Tour and serves very well on his first serve.
We all want to play under control and with initiative, but it is
not easy against Rublev because he makes you run all the time
and play defensively all the time. I knew I had to fight fire
with fire. On the big points I think I played quite smartly."
Djokovic hit five aces, converted five of 10 break points and
won 21 of 26 first-serve points (80.8 percent) on his way to a
simple victory that required just 66 minutes.
Norrie only entered the field after it began when Greece's
Stefanos Tsitsipas withdrew due to an elbow injury.
--Field Level Media
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