Ruud Claims 100th Win In Cincinnati
Norwegian Casper Ruud earned his 100th win in style on Wednesday at the Western & Southern Open, battling past American Reilly Opelka 6-7(5), 6-0, 7-6(4) to reach the third round after two hours and 25 minutes.
“It was a fun way to get your 100th win. A 7-6 in the third win is always probably one of the greatest feelings in the game, especially against a player like Opelka, where every point matters,” Ruud told ATPTour.com. “The match could be turned around in one or two points and decided in one or two points. It was a great way to get my 100th win.”
[FOLLOW 1000]Ruud is now 15 victories away from his father and coach, Christian Ruud, who earned 115 tour-level wins in his career.
“I need to win 16 more matches to get him and then I’ve beaten his record,” Ruud said. “Hopefully I can win 100 more, that would be nice. But in this game, there are no guarantees, so any match you win, you take it.”
Ruud, who recently won three titles in three weeks on clay, will play 10th seed Diego Schwartzman for a place in the quarter-finals. The Argentine clawed past American Frances Tiafoe 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 after two hours and 12 minutes.
Schwartzman leads Ruud 4-1 in their ATP Head2Head series, but the Norwegian won their most recent match this year in Monte-Carlo. At last year’s Western & Southern Open, Schwartzman was victorious 7-6(2), 6-3 when the event was held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
