Casper Ruud earned his place in the quarterfinals of the Shanghai Masters in unfortunate circumstances, as Felix Auger-Aliassime was forced to retire from the match.
The Norwegian was 5-2 up against the Canadian in the first set when Auger-Aliassime was forced to vacate the match with a knee injury.
Ruud will advance to play Rafael Jodar in the last eight of the Shanghai Masters, where he is looking to continue his quest to qualify for the ATP Finals at the end of the year.
The star has an outside shot of qualification and will likely need a victory at either the Shanghai Masters or the Paris Masters in order to stake his claim.
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Having made the quarterfinals of the Shanghai Masters, Ruud has now made the last eight of all nine Masters events on the ATP Tour calendar.
The star joins an elite list of active players to have achieved the feat, with only Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Marin Cilic, Daniil Medvedev, Novak Djokovic, Andrey Rublev, Hubert Hurkacz, Grigor Dimitrov, Alexander Zverev, Gael Monfils and Stefanos Tsitsipas managing the achievement.
Ruud has only claimed one Masters title in his career, at the 2025 Madrid Open, but he has been incredible consistent when it comes to the ATP 1000 events.
He has also reached three other finals, in Monte Carlo, Rome, and Miami, as well as six other semifinals at Masters level.
Unsurprsingly, Ruud’s best performing Masters tournaments come on the clay, his favourite surface.
He holds a 75% winning percentage at both the Madrid Open and the Italian Open, the latter of which saw him reach the final of the tournament this year.
Ruud was defeated by Sinner in the 2026 Italian Open final, but he will be hoping to get one better at the Shanghai Masters with the Italian not playing the event.
He is the sixth highest-ranked player left in the competition this year, with only Zverev, Medvedev, Alex de Minaur, Tommy Paul, and Jodar ranked higher than him.
Ruud will undoubtedly fancy his chances to collect the second Masters title of his career in Shanghai, which would put him in a very good position to qualify for the ATP Finals.
The star has only qualified for the ATP Finals on three occasions, but he’s made it to the knockout rounds on every occasion he’s played the tournament.
In 2022, Ruud reached the finals of the ATP Finals, after picking up victories against Felix Auger Aliassime, Taylor Fritz, and Andrey Rublev, but he was beaten in straight sets by Djokovic at the Italian year-end tournament.
