Ruud goes back and wins a game with 21 Break Points in Barcelona | ATP Tour

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Ruud goes back and wins a game with 21 Break Points in Barcelona

His next rival will be Holger Rune

April 16, 2025

Winning in corridos sets will usually give the impression of forcefulness. It was not the case of Casper Ruud in his triumph of this Wednesday by 7-5, 7-5 over the Serbian Hamad Medjedovic in the round of 16 of Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.

And not only because it was break down in the two partials, losing 2-4 in the first and 1-3 in the second. The duel was so matched and dramatic, that the Norwegian won just 6 points more than his rival in the entire meeting of two hours and eight minutes (94 against 88).

In addition, the champion of the tournament in 2024 had to be demanded to the maximum in each game of the match that had 21 Break Points.

Of the 24 service games that were in the confrontation, in 13 there was at least one opportunity for rupture. The second standard head saved nine of the eleven he faced, and the four that were presented in the 5-5 of the initial sleeve. While No. 72 of the PIF ATP Rankings raised six out of ten.

“I am very happy with my mentality and that I did not give up. I tried to continue fighting there to go back, saved very important break points and I broke him in 6-5 in both sets. For the third time.

The 26-year-old right-hander, who came from beating Colombian Daniel Galán in the debut (6-4, 6-3), was playing his game No. 201 on clay at the ATP Tour, and reached 148 wins on this surface, eleven of them in this event that he knew how to win a year ago without losing sets. In fact, all the triumphs of Ruud in Barcelona, ​​where he debuted in 2017, have been in corridos sets.

His next opponent will be the Danish Holger Rune, who comes from defeating 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 to Argentine Sebastián Báez. Ruud, No. 10 of the PIF ATP Rankings, leads 6-1 the Lexus ATP Headtohead between them. The first six rivalry duels were clay, including the only one who won the world No. 13, two years ago in Rome.