Casper Ruud kick-started his 2023 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell campaign with a successful revenge mission on Tuesday.
The third-seeded Norwegian held off #NextGenATP American Ben Shelton 6-2, 7-6(1) to book a third-round spot at the ATP 500 in Catalunya. Despite Shelton recovering a 3-5 deficit in the second set to force a tie-break, Ruud reasserted his dominance in time to wrap a 70-minute second-round triumph against the 20-year-old lefty.
“He was playing great, and I think I was playing great,” said Ruud. “I played a perfect first set and he was making maybe a few too many mistakes… But I think all throughout the second set was tough games, tough rallies.
“It can be difficult. In the first set you feel like you get a lot of free points, and so on, but then suddenly he starts playing almost like a wall and playing really good from on defence. It’s tough when someone changes in the middle of the match, but I’m very happy that I was able to stay calm and play a very good tie-break.”
With the win, the World No. 3 levelled his ATP Head2Head series against Shelton at 1-1. Last August, the then-No. 229-ranked Shelton upset Ruud in straight sets at the Western & Southern Open. A repeat result on the Barcelona clay appeared unlikely early as Ruud charged to the first set behind some big serving and his powerful forehand, which pulled his opponent around the court to great effect.
Despite Shelton’s second-set comeback, Ruud’s greater experience on clay ultimately showed at key moments on Pista Rafa Nadal. The 24-year-old, a nine-time tour-level titlist on clay, saved four of five break points he faced against a player who was competing on red clay for just the fifth time in his life.
“Obviously I wanted my revenge,” said Ruud when asked about whether his Cincinnati defeat had given him extra motivation. “Different surface, different continent, different tournament… I felt like I had a little bit more time here to build the points on clay, which is normal.
“It was in the back of my mind. I think Cincinnati last year was a breakout tournament for Ben, where things started going so well for him. Obviously, this year as well [at the Australian Open], where he made the quarter-finals, so he’s had an unbelievable progression in a short period of time… I had to be on top of my game and tried to feel more at home than him somehow on the red clay.”
Ruud advances to a clash against 15th seed Francisco Cerundolo or Francesco Passaro in Catalunya. The Norwegian, who reached the quarter-finals in Barcelona in 2022, is hoping to build on the title he won in Estoril earlier this month after a modest start to the year.
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Also on Tuesday, Diego Schwartzman delivered a commanding opening performance at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona-1899. The Argentine dispatched Wu Yibing 6-2, 6-2 to set a second-round showdown against fourth seed Jannik Sinner.
Schwartzman will hope his 79-minute win, during which he converted five of 11 break points against the fast-rising Chinese star Wu, can be the catalyst for further improved results in 2023. The 30-year-old Argentine is now 5-10 for the year and he knows how to win matches in Barcelona: Schwartzman reached the quarter-finals in 2021 and the semi-finals a year ago.
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