Casper Ruud beat Argentine Diego Schwartzman (29) in straight sets in the ATP 1000 tournament in Cincinnati on Thursday.
The match ended 6-4, 6-3 in the Snarøya boy’s favor.
Schwartzman is ranked number 14 in the world, while Ruud is number eleven.
In the third round, Alexander Zverev (24), who is in fifth place in the world rankings, is waiting. The German beat Argentine Guido Pella (31) 6-2, 6-3 in the second round.
After an even first set, where Ruud was sharper, there was a run-over from the start in the second set. Schwartzman did not keep up, Ruud broke the opponent’s serve on the first opportunity and got the upper hand.
Schwartzman rose somewhat, but never threatened Ruud in the Norwegian’s own serve game. Ruud could thus serve home the victory to 6-3 in the second set. He did so with a clean serve game, where he decided with the first match ball.
Another quarterfinal
Ruud is thus ready for another ATP quarterfinal at Masters level. Last week, he went just as far in a similar tournament in Toronto. There was a stop for world tree Stefanos Tsitsipas.
And he will again have tough opposition. On Friday, he will compete with Germany star Alexander Zverev, who is currently ranked as the world’s fifth best tennis player. Ruud is by comparison ranked as number eleven.
It will be the first time Ruud is going up against Zverev. The last time they met, Ruud had to retire with an injury.
The Ohio tournament has the ATP Masters 1000 level. Only Grand Slam competitions have a higher status in the sport of tennis.
Raised on hardcourt
Thursday’s victory was Ruud’s second in a row against Schwartzman. He won straight away when they last met on the gravel in the Monte Carlo Masters. Before that, the Argentine had won the first four meetings between them.
Hardcourt is not Ruud’s favorite surface, but has recently shown that he is getting better and better. Until a week ago, he had never reached a Masters quarterfinal on hardcourt.
The tournament in Ohio is Ruud’s last before the US Open, which is this year’s last Grand Slam competition. The Norwegian’s good hardcourt form means that he can challenge for a place among the top 10 in the world.
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