Casper Ruud revealed his approach was to "fight fire with fire" in his huge win over Andrey Rublev at the ATP Finals and is already relishing getting a shot at Daniil Medvedev.
The Norwegian has enjoyed a fine 2021, winning five ATP Tour titles, and has now moved into the semi-finals in Turin on his debut appearance at the prestigious year-ending event.
Ruud appeared to be on the way out when he was trailing by a set and a break against Rublev, having lost all four of the previous meetings between the pair.
But he fought back to win 2-6 7-5 7-6 (7-5) on Friday and extend his impressive season by at least one more match.
"The court is playing very fast and Andrey plays very fast," said Ruud, who triumphed despite only winning 98 of the 208 points played in an intense battle where his Russian opponent also impressed.
"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 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."
Aside from Ruud, the other three semi-finalists (Medvedev, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev) are all former ATP Finals winners, making this event the first since 1994 where that has happened.
US Open champion Medvedev represents a daunting challenge in the last four for Ruud, who bounced back from an opening Green Group loss to Djokovic by beating alternate Cameron Norrie before his high-quality winner-takes-all clash with Rublev.
"I am looking forward to Saturday already – it is going to be another tough battle," said the 22-year-old after firing down 14 aces in his victory.
"Medvedev is a different kind of player to Rublev. He is one of the best in the world, and he has proven himself as one of the best over the past two or three years.
"I have played against him a couple of times and lost both, but I know a little bit about what I am going to face, and it is going to be a fun challenge.
"I am just enjoying the moment."
Two of the last three players to reach the last four on debut at the ATP Finals have gone on to win the tournament, Grigor Dimitrov (2017) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (2019).
Ruud will dream of replicating that duo, but Rublev must come to terms with a second consecutive group-stage exit in the ATP Finals.
"It is tough," Rublev said. "Hopefully I can get through it to get a good lesson, which will give me a huge improvement.
"In the moment, I got tight, which is normal. Casper played well. He has a great forehand – one of the best on tour."
Olympiacos 2-0 Aston Villa (6-2 agg): Villans fall in last four as El Kaabi strikes again
Olympiacos will face Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final after an Ayoub El Kaabi double secured a 6-2 aggregate win over Aston Villa.
After a stunning 4-2 win at Villa Park last weekend to take the ascendancy in the semi-final tie, first-leg hat-trick hero El Kaabi struck early before netting again late on to stamp out any hopes of a Villa comeback.
After a strong start from the visitors, El Kaabi scored his fourth goal of the tie just 10 minutes into Thursday's second leg at Stadio Georgios Karaiskaki, getting on the end of Quini's low cross to turn home at the far post.
It looked an uphill battle for Villa, who dominated the possession throughout the contest in Greece but struggled to make a dent in the stubborn hosts.
Douglas Luiz saw a long-range effort saved by Kostas Tzolakis while the Olympiacos goalkeeper also denied Moussa Diaby. El Kaabi made sure late on, getting on the end of a long ball to fire past Martinez and secure Olympiacos' final berth.
The fairytale comeback never materialised for Villa, and it will be Olympiacos who take on Fiorentina at the Agia Sophia Stadium in the Greek capital of Athens on May 29, looking to utilise familiar surroundings to claim their first major European trophy.
Data debrief
El Kaabi was the hero again for Olympiacos as his two second-leg finishes took him to 10 Europa Conference League goals for the campaign, more than any other player, while his 13 strikes in major European competitions are also more than any other player when factoring in his three Europa League goals.
Villa had 73.9 per cent of the ball in the second leg, yet their 1.14 xG (expected goals) was still inferior to Olympiacos' 1.23 as the Greek Super League side's ruthlessness clinched their spot in the final.
Osaka beats Kostyuk for landmark win at Italian Open
Naomi Osaka recorded her first win over a top-20 opponent on clay at the Italian Open on Thursday, posting an impressive 6-3 6-2 victory against Marta Kostyuk to reach the third round.
Having opened her first Italian Open campaign since 2021 with a straight-sets win over Clara Burel on Wednesday, Osaka produced another slick performance to down the world number 20 one day later.
Osaka blitzed Kostyuk to take the opener in just 36 minutes, taking advantage of a sloppy start from the Ukrainian, who served at just 40 per cent in the first set and tallied 15 unforced errors.
The former world number one then forced a break within three games in the second set, only for rain to halt proceedings after she went 3-1 up.
She showed no signs of rustiness upon returning to the court, though, even responding to a late loss of serve with an immediate break back to tee up a third-round clash with 10th seed Daria Kasatkina.
Data Debrief: First for Osaka on least favourite surface
Osaka has never considered herself a clay-court specialist, failing to reach a single tour-level final on the surface throughout her career.
Ahead of Thursday's match, she was 0-8 on clay against opponents in the top 20 of the WTA rankings. However, a routine victory should give her hope of repeating the feat against Kasatkina next time out.
Nadal fights back to win opener in Rome
Rafael Nadal fought back from a slow start to defeat Belgian qualifier Zizou Bergs 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in his opening match at the Italian Open.
Nadal endured a poor first set, losing five of the last six games, but turned things around in impressive style, spending two hours and 47 minutes on the court on Thursday.
The 10-time Italian Open champion saved all five break points he faced in the second and third sets to take key points and earn a seventh win of the season.
Nadal is competing in his third consecutive tour-level event after missing most of last year due to a hip injury that required surgery before his comeback was halted by a muscle tear in January.
"That was not my best match, I was practising better than I played today, but I found a way to win," he said after the match.
"That’s so important at the beginning of the tournament. My game is more unpredictable than before. I didn’t play much tennis for the last two years, so have some ups and downs, on and off, but I think I can do much better than today and I hope to do it next round."
The Spaniard will face seventh-seeded Hubert Hurkacz in the second round.
Data Debrief:
Nadal had only lost one of his previous 18 opening-round matches in Rome before Thursday and avoided adding to that tally in his final appearance at the tournament.
He has the most wins at the Foro Italico (70), where he first claimed the title on his debut in 2005.
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