Casper Ruud glad to exact revenge on 'dangerous' Ben Shelton in Barcelona Open 2R

Casper Ruud was pleased to beat Ben Shelton, 6-2, 7-6 (1), in his Barcelona Open opener on Tuesday, April 18.

The third seed was dominant in the first set, conceding only two games. Ruud looked to be on course for a straight-forward win with a 5-3 lead in the second set, only for Shelton to force a tiebreak.

However, the 2022 Roland Garros finalist regrouped in time to complete a 70-minute win on Pista Rafa Nadal and progress to the third round of the ATP 500 claycourt event.

In his on-court interview, Casper Ruud acknowledged Shelton's quality:

"He was playing great, and I think I was playing great (too). I played a perfect first set, and he was doing maybe a little bit too many mistakes, and I was a little bit out of order."

Having lost to Shelton in the second round at the Western and Southern Open last August, Ruud was happy to get one over the American:

"Obviously I wanted my revenge and different surface, different continent, different tournament, obviously, Cincinnati and Barcelona, but obviously, I felt a little bit more like I had a little bit more time here to build the points on clay, which is normal."

The Norwegian also hailed Shelton's incredible resurgence, especially this season, where he made the Australian Open quarterfinals:

"I think Cincinnati last year was sort of like a breakout sort of tournament for Ben where things started going so well for him. And obviously, this year as well in Australia, he made the quarterfinals. So he's had an unbelievable progression in a very short period of time. So he's very dangerous and like I said, very athletic player."

Ruud will face either Francesco Passaro or Francisco Cerundolo for a place in the Barcelona quarterfinals.

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"I was able to stay calm and play a very good tiebreak" - Casper Ruud after beating Ben Shelton

Casper Ruud is into the third round in Barcelona.

Casper Ruud had the opportunity to serve out a straight-set win but got broken as a tiebreak ensued. Nevertheless, Shelton's comeback was short-lived, as the Norwegian played a near-perfect tiebreak, dropping only one point.

The former World No. 2 said:

"I'm very happy that I was able to stay calm. I searched for it at 5-4 but he broke me, and then I was able to stay calm and play a very good tiebreak. That's what I need sometimes to win the close sets. It's better for you because you get better practice and you will be better prepared for whenever you play more great players in the future."

With his win over Shelton, the reigning Estoril champion improved to 11-7 on the season. Five of these wins have come in his last two tournaments - Estoril (4) and Monte-Carlo (1).