Ruud Passes Opening Hamburg Test

Casper Ruud bounced back from his Bastad final defeat on Wednesday when he overcame Argentine Sebastian Baez 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 to reach the second round at the Hamburg European Open.

The Norwegian, who is making his fourth appearance at the ATP 500 clay-court event, won 46 per cent (33/71) of points on Baez’s first-serve to earn his 21st tour-level clay-court win of the season after one hour and 58 minutes.

“It was really tough,” Ruud said. “Sebastian is a great fighter. He has taken big steps in the past year, so it was always going to be a tough challenge. It takes a little time to adjust to new conditions. Today we had to play indoors under the roof, so it makes a difference on clay. It makes it a lot more humid and the balls are heavier, it took a while to adjust.

“I started well but the second set was not great, but I fought hard in the last and I am happy to be through.”

Ruud will next meet Chilean Cristian Garin. The top seed is chasing his second tour-level title of the season, having triumphed on clay in Estoril in April. Last week Ruud reached the championship match in Bastad, where he lost against Andrey Rublev.

Ruud advanced to the semi-finals in his previous appearance in Hamburg in 2020 and will be aiming for another deep run in Germany as he tries to climb in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin. The 24-year-old is currently eighth, and is pursuing a third consecutive appearance in the Nitto ATP Finals.

#NextGenATP Frenchman Luca Van Assche reached the third round at a tour-level event for the first time this season when he upset seventh seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4.

The 19-year-old, who has won two ATP Challenger Tour titles this year, is sixth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Next Gen Race and aiming to make his debut at the Next Gen ATP Finals at the end of the season. Van Assche will next play Alexander Zverev or Maximilian Marterer.