Norwegian Casper Ruud stunned Denis Shapovalov in the finals of ATP Geneva Open 2021. He defeated the second seed handsomely in straight sets to win the second title of his career. Ruud has attained fabulous consistency this year, reaching the latter stages of many tournaments.

Currently on a streak of four consecutive semifinal appearances, Ruud has held up a brilliant clay-court season in 2021. His run started at Monte Carlo and also includes the Madrid Open. Already a consistent performer at ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, Ruud is one of the dark horses of French Open 2021.

“It feels great that I’ve been playing well lately and reaching the later stages in my past tournaments. It is a big confidence-booster ahead of Roland Garros… It was a close match today and it could have gone either way,” Ruud said.

A tough final and second ATP title for Casper Ruud

Ruud was wary of the threat Shapovalov possesses. The Canadian famously had stretched Rafael Nadal at Italian Open 2021 and even had two match points. It wasn’t an easy final, as both the players served accurately. Ruud once led 6-2 in the opening set tie-breaker, but Shapovalov soon chased him down.

However, Ruud was fortunate to convert his next set point. From there, Ruud continued a disciplined service game in the second set and broke Shapovalov in the only break of the match. He later served out the set to seal the title.

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“It was a tough first set, it was very close. We were both serving great, so there weren’t that many rallies after the serve on both sides because of the high level. But in the tie-break there were some rallies here and there.

“Happily for me I won the first set, and I think that gave me a little bit of confidence to calm down a little bit – not to relax, but to play more freely.”

This is Ruud’s second ATP title. Back in February 2020, he won his first title in Argentina. In his relatively short career, the Norwegian has reached four ATP finals, all on clay.

“It feels as good to win today as it did in Buenos Aires [in 2020]. I was more mature this week, knowing that I won a title before. It’s something else to do it the second time, but it’s the same great winning taste and winning feeling.”

Ruud will now re-enter the top 20 rankings after his triumph in Geneva. Obviously, he will be seeded at Roland Garros and could pull some surprise coups in Paris.

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