Turin: Casper Ruud of Norway rose to the occasion, defeating Andrey Rublev of Russia 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(5) in a winner-takes-all 'Green Group' match to set up a semifinal showdown with Daniil Medvedev at the year-end elite Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.

After losing his first round-robin encounter to Serbian Novak Djokovic, the 22-year-old defeated Cameron Norrie of the United Kingdom to set up a crucial meeting against Rublev, who is also 1-1 after two rounds. In his on-court interview on Friday evening, Ruud stated, "The court is playing really fast, and Andrey plays very fast."

"He blasts the ball harder than anyone on the Tour and serves his first serve exceptionally effectively. We all want to play with control and initiative, but it's difficult to do so against Rublev because he forces you to rush and play defensively all of the time. I was well aware that I would have to fight fire with fire. I think I did a good job on the main points "Ruud said.

Ruud employed his aggressive approach against Rublev, hitting his strong groundstrokes with pinpoint accuracy as he rallied from a breakdown in the second and third sets to win in two hours and 24 minutes.

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