Spoiler:
Norwegian didn’t face break point in final against Shapovalov
Third seed Casper Ruud was rock-solid on Saturday as he took down Denis Shapovalov 7-6(6), 6-4 to win his second tour-level title at the Gonet Geneva Open.
The Norwegian has been in impressive form throughout the clay-court swing, arriving in Geneva on the back of three consecutive semi-finals at Monte-Carlo (l. Rublev), Munich (l.Basilashvili) and Madrid (l. Berrettini).
In Geneva, Ruud dropped only one set en route the the championship match against fellow 22-year-old #NextGenATP alumnus Shapovalov, who was also seeking his second tour-level title.
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Ruud edged through a tightly contested opening set that was defined by strong serving. There were no break points on offer, with Shapovalov dropping only one point behind his first serve and winning 94 per cent (15/16) of those points while Ruud dominated the second serve, winning 91 per cent (10/11) before they went into the tie-break.
When the opening finally came for Ruud, he capitalised right away. Taking advantage of only his second look at a Shapovalov second serve in the set, Ruud onloaded on the return and jammed Shapovalov at the net to earn an error for a 4/2 lead.
From 6/2 down, the Canadian fought back to save four set points and bring them level in the decider. But Ruud got himself out of trouble with an ace – one of four he struck in the match – before Shapovalov dumped a volley into the net to seal the set.
After such a high-quality opening set, a second-set letdown was inevitable – but Ruud kept his level high as the Canadian’s first-serve percentage eventually dropped off, giving his opponent the opening he needed.
How To Watch
Ruud was right there to keep Shapovalov under pressure, and earned the first break opportunities of the match in the decisive 2-2 game. Shapovalov held firm during the marathon game, saving four break points, but couldn’t hold back the Norwegian as he converted his fifth. Ruud served out the victory after an hour and 43 minutes.
Ruud improved to a tour-leading 32 clay-court wins in 2020-21, ahead of Stefanos Tsitsipas (26) and Cristian Garin (25).
Shapovalov was seeking his second ATP title in his third final appearance, after improving to 2-10 in semi-final matches with a victory over Pablo Cuevas.
Did You Know?
The Geneva final is the first of 2021 to feature two 22-and-under players. There were six such finals during the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season – the most on the ATP Tour since nine in 2009. The most recent took place in Antwerp last October (Ugo Humbert d. Alex de Minaur).
Third seed Casper Ruud was rock-solid on Saturday as he took down Denis Shapovalov 7-6(6), 6-4 to win his second tour-level title at the Gonet Geneva Open.
The Norwegian has been in impressive form throughout the clay-court swing, arriving in Geneva on the back of three consecutive semi-finals at Monte-Carlo (l. Rublev), Munich (l.Basilashvili) and Madrid (l. Berrettini).
In Geneva, Ruud dropped only one set en route the the championship match against fellow 22-year-old #NextGenATP alumnus Shapovalov, who was also seeking his second tour-level title.
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Ruud edged through a tightly contested opening set that was defined by strong serving. There were no break points on offer, with Shapovalov dropping only one point behind his first serve and winning 94 per cent (15/16) of those points while Ruud dominated the second serve, winning 91 per cent (10/11) before they went into the tie-break.
When the opening finally came for Ruud, he capitalised right away. Taking advantage of only his second look at a Shapovalov second serve in the set, Ruud onloaded on the return and jammed Shapovalov at the net to earn an error for a 4/2 lead.
From 6/2 down, the Canadian fought back to save four set points and bring them level in the decider. But Ruud got himself out of trouble with an ace – one of four he struck in the match – before Shapovalov dumped a volley into the net to seal the set.
After such a high-quality opening set, a second-set letdown was inevitable – but Ruud kept his level high as the Canadian’s first-serve percentage eventually dropped off, giving his opponent the opening he needed.
How To Watch
Ruud was right there to keep Shapovalov under pressure, and earned the first break opportunities of the match in the decisive 2-2 game. Shapovalov held firm during the marathon game, saving four break points, but couldn’t hold back the Norwegian as he converted his fifth. Ruud served out the victory after an hour and 43 minutes.
Ruud improved to a tour-leading 32 clay-court wins in 2020-21, ahead of Stefanos Tsitsipas (26) and Cristian Garin (25).
Shapovalov was seeking his second ATP title in his third final appearance, after improving to 2-10 in semi-final matches with a victory over Pablo Cuevas.
Did You Know?
The Geneva final is the first of 2021 to feature two 22-and-under players. There were six such finals during the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season – the most on the ATP Tour since nine in 2009. The most recent took place in Antwerp last October (Ugo Humbert d. Alex de Minaur).