Casper Ruud exacted revenge by topping Stefanos Tsitsipas, 7-5, 6-3, in the finals to win the Barcelona Open title on Sunday.
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RUUD REVENGE WIN OVER TSITSIPAS NETS BARCELONA OPEN TITLE
Ruud completed a revenge win over Tsitsipas to net him his first Barcelona Open title and the biggest in his career.
The Norwegian third seed got back at Tsitsipas after he lost to the Greek No.5 seed in the Monte Carlo Masters finals last week.
Ruud finally won an Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) 250-level tournament after seven failed attempts in the finals.
The result also enabled Ruud to snap Tsitsipas’ 10-match winning streak.
“A lot of finals that I’ve lost have been tough, a big disappointing, of course,” the Norwegian said.
“Anytime you reach a final, it’s nonetheless a good week so you can’t be too hard on yourself, but this one has been a long time coming,” he added.
RUUD’S REVENGE OVER TSITSIPAS BREAKS HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD TIE
Ruud’s revenge revenge victory over Tsitsipas also broke a 2-all tie in their head-to-head matchup so far.
The Norwegian topped Tomas Martin Etcheverry, 7-6(6), 6-4, while Tsitsipas downed Dusan Lajovic, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, in the semifinals to set up the rematch.
“In the final in Monte Carlo, I was always on the back foot, too far behind, and he (Tsitsipas) had too much time to control the game,” Ruud said.
“It was a bit of a tricky start (here). I got broken right away. So not the best start, but I managed to settle in and broke him back,” he added.
RUUD, TSITSIPAS HEAD TO MASTERS 1000 EVENT IN MADRID NEXT
Ruud now attempts to extend his revenge win over Tsitsipas to a Masters 1000 event in Madrid, where both players are headed next.
Tsitsipas opened the first set with a 3-1 lead but Ruud fought back and tied the match before closing it out.
The Norwegian then took an early 4-1 lead in the second set and never trailed en route to the win.
“It’s been two long weeks for both of us, and it’s obvious that at some point fatigue is going to kick in,” Ruud added.
Ruud is now 4-1 against Top 10 players this year and 3-0 against them on clay.
