Categories: ATPTop Story

Long wait worth it as Ruud wins Shanghai debut match

Casper Ruud finally made his debut at the ATP Shanghai Masters, with the three-time Grand Slam finalist sprinting to victory over Yoshihito Nishioka 7-5, 6-0 on Friday.

The Norwegian ranked ninth and fighting to edge into the field of next month’s eight-man ATP Finals in Turin, beat his Japanese opponent after a first-round bye and now faces American Chris Eubanks in an upcoming third-round contest.

Ruud swept the last eight games of the match to sink Nishioka in 75 minutes.

“Yoshihito came back in a tough, long first set,” Ruud said of an opponent who erased a 4-1 deficit in the opener.

“These things can happen. Whoever wins a first set like this will feel motivated to keep going in the second.

“I know the feeling myself. You feel like you worked hard for an hour just to lose the set and it feels like you have to climb a mountain to turn the match around.

‘Maybe that’s what happened. I got a great start in the second and I just kept it going.”

There was bad news for fellow Scandinavian Holger Rune, who lost to American Brandon Nakashima 6-0, 6-2.

Rune, has been dealing with back problems at age 20 and will need a rush to fitness with the Paris Masters title to defend starting in early November.

Bill Scott

Recent Posts

Halep seething over Swiatek wrist-slap doping penalty

Doping sanction victim Simona Halep has gone online to protest her own treatment by anti-doping…

3 weeks ago

Nadal goes down in final match

Rafael Nadal lined up for what was to be the final match of his career…

1 month ago

Sinner flattens de Minaur in runaway home start

Jannik Sinner took charge in front of his home crowd on Sunday, crushing ATP Finals…

1 month ago

Madcap Medvedev suffers temperamental Turin Finals loss

Daniil Medvedev went into meltdown mode on Sunday during a highly charged 6-4, 6-3 loss, with opponent…

1 month ago

Team Sinner considering skipping Monte Carlo

Jannik Sinner could well be missing from the opening European clay event of next season…

1 month ago

Davis Cup Final to mark Nadal goodbye to tennis

Rafael Nadal will bring down the curtain on his career next month as he plays his…

2 months ago