Former Nordea Open champion Casper Ruud began his quest for an 11th tour-level title in style on Thursday when he cruised past Alexander Shevchenko 6-2, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals in Bastad.
The top seed was in control throughout the 79-minute clash at the ATP 250 clay-court event, hitting his heavy topspin backhand with precision to outlast the World No. 96 in baseline exchanges.
“I am very happy to win. It was tough here for me last year, losing in my first match, so to get a win is good, in front of a Scandinavian crowd,” Ruud said in his on-court interview. “It was very difficult with the wind today, conditions were a bit challenging but I was able to do good enough.”
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Ruud now holds an 18-6 record on clay this season and will next face Austrian Sebastian Ofner after the 27-year-old defeated Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
The Norwegian Ruud, who lifted the trophy in Bastad in 2021, is chasing his second tour-level crown of the season, after triumphing on clay in Estoril. The 24-year-old is currently eighth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin and is seeking a deep run to further consolidate his position. Ruud advanced to the title match at the Nitto ATP Finals last year.
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Alexander Zverev improved to 9-2 in his past 11 matches on clay courts, dispatching Brazilian Thiago Monteiro 6-1, 6-0 in Bastad.
The fifth seed, who reached the semi-finals in his only previous appearance at the clay-court event in 2015, won 79 per cent (11/14) of points on Monteiro’s first serve to triumph after 61 minutes. The German is into his fifth tour-level quarter-final of the season and will next meet second seed Andrey Rublev.
The World No. 7 Rublev overcame qualifier Pavel Kotov 6-3, 7-6(4) in one hour and 33 minutes to reach his eighth tour-level quarter-final of the season and third on clay.
Rublev, who rallied from a break down in the first set, is chasing his second tour-level crown of the year in Bastad. In April, the 25-year-old captured the biggest title of his career when he clinched his first ATP Masters 1000 trophy in Monte-Carlo.
Rublev is making his second appearance at the ATP 250, having advanced to the semi-finals last year. He will have his work cut out against Zverev, who leads Rublev 5-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Rublev did win their most recent meeting in Dubai earlier this year, though.