The Norwegian came under early, but delivered impressive tennis in Turin and won.
Cameron Norrie – Casper Ruud 6-1, 3-6, 4-6
A few hours before Ruud’s big showdown in the ATP playoffs against Stefanos Tsitsipas came the news that the Greek had to throw in the towel, after suffering an elbow injury.
Casper Ruud thus had to turn around on all the preparations he had made in advance, and was instead given British Cameron Norrie as opponent in Turin on Wednesday.
It started in the worst possible way when Norrie took the first set with the numbers 6-1, and shocked the Norwegian.
– It is without a doubt the worst thing you have seen of Casper in recent months, unusual, it came from the Eurosport studio after the first set.
The 22-year-old, on the other hand, played back in the match, and won the second set 6-3.
The third set was another upswing for Ruud who broke the serve in the fifth game, and eventually won the set with the numbers 6-4.
– Fortunately, he is as usual completely raw when it is decided. It is completely raw that he is in the ATP playoffs and marked the tournament, says Ola Bentzen after the victory.
The coach of Casper Ruud was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up.
– It has been a very good year for me, and that part of the season I have struggled with before. It is therefore gratifying for the confidence that I can win at the end of the season, and at the same time do it on this surface. Cameron played much better than me the first set and a half, but my break point changed a lot, says Ruud to the organizer after the victory.
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Weak first set
Norrie came in as second reserve and ranked as number 10 in the world, which is four places behind the Norwegian.
The 22-year-old from Oslo had problems early on when the British Norrie broke the fourth game after several serious mistakes from Ruud.
– He hesitates a bit there, and is unlucky. We did not expect that start, although of course he can break back. There have been too many mistakes in the beginning, and seem a little nervous, says Discovery’s commentator Christer Francke.
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The pain got worse when Norrie served his own game, and followed up by breaking Ruud’s serve again and went up to 5-1 in the first set.
– He does not get started and is broken again, I do not like it. The first set here will be difficult to do anything with, so here it is important to lower your shoulders and get the game started.
The opponent ended up winning the last game, and took with him the first set in the match.
– It is without a doubt the worst thing you have seen of Casper in recent months, unusual.
– Worried
The second set started according to the recipe when both won their first three games, without breaking the opponent. Ruud, on the other hand, had some debris in the game, as Eurosport’s commentator to react.
– Father Christian Ruud is probably a little worried about what he sees here, because the mistakes continue, it came from Francke when the pictures of Ruud sr. scrolled across the screen.
The Norwegian kept the match alive when he served in his fourth game with the numbers 4-3, and really had the opportunity to come back in the second set.
The 22-year-old did, who broke his first game in the match in a solid way. He followed up by winning the decisive game, and secured the second set.
– He’s a little stressed here now, Norrie. Now there’s a really big show here from Casper, fantastic.
In the third and decisive set, Casper Ruud delivered tennis at a high level, and got the decisive breakball in the fifth game when the Briton missed several strokes.
– Sudden weekend slip for Norrie, and Ruud takes a real hold of the match.
It ended in a convincing victory, with a final set of the figures 6-4.
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