Geneva, May 19 (IANS). Casper Ruud made a confident start at the Geneva Open on Tuesday. This expert clay-court player has made it to the second round in Switzerland by defeating Jensen Brooksby in straight sets. The world number-17 player took just 92 minutes to win 6-3, 7-5. He dominated the entire match using his signature ‘heavy topspin’ and ‘baseline control’, which never went out of his hands.
Ruud’s latest win comes amid a busy and successful clay-court season, in which he has regained his rhythm after a grueling schedule. Just a few days earlier, he had reached a major final in Rome, where he was defeated by World No. 1 Jannik Sinner. Sinner recently became only the second player in history to complete the ‘Career Golden Masters’ title.
Despite back-to-back matches, Ruud appeared physically fresh and tactically astute in Geneva. Maintaining complete control over the crucial moments of the match, he scored 21 winners and limited his mistakes to only 12. 60th ranked Brooksby once again had to struggle a lot to maintain his rhythm on the clay court. This is the American player’s fifth consecutive defeat on this surface this season.
The slow-paced clay-court conditions continue to expose the weaknesses in his defensive game. Although he had strong performances on ‘hard courts’ at the start of the year, including reaching the quarterfinals in February, he was unable to replicate that level of play in Switzerland.
Two-time French Open finalist Ruud has an excellent record in Geneva, having won the ATP 250 tournament three times before. Hoping to continue his fine clay-court form, he will face either Adrian Mannarino or Raphael Collignon in the next round. On day three, Alexei Popyrin won in a tight three-set match against French qualifier Clément Tabur. Ultimately, he won 7-6(2), 6-7(5), 6-4 and secured a place in the second round with top seed Taylor Fritz.
Fritz is returning to a tournament for the first time since Miami in March, and will have a tough test immediately after Popyrin’s strong performance. Eighth seed Jaume Munar also progressed with ease, defeating American qualifier Nishesh Basavareddy 6-0, 6-3 in just 75 minutes. Now the Spaniard will face Argentina’s Francisco Comesana in the next match, as the shape of the tournament becomes clear.
–IANS
rsg