Casper Ruud managed to be really dominant in his first match at the 2024 Estoril Open, completely outplaying Botic van de Zandschulp.
The Norwegian is having a solid season so far, especially compared to last year. In 2023, Ruud didn't prepare for the new season well, especially because of his off-season exhibition tour with Rafael Nadal.
He changed that this year, and so far, that brought him considerable success, as he's been able to compete well during the initial hard-court part of the season.
Now, it's time for the clay-court part of the season, which is, obviously, his favourite, and he will want to do well, establishing himself deeper in the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings.
His season on the red dirt started at the ATP 250 tournament in Estoril, and as the top seed in the draw, he had a first-round bye, starting his journey in the second round of the tournament.
The top-seeded Norwegian took on Botic van de Zandschulp in his first match at the tournament, and it was a really dominant win from him, to make it to the quarter-finals of the event in Portugal.
Ruud forced a break point in the first game of the match, but after saving it, he won the first five games of the first set, and even though the Dutch player won one game, the Norwegian still easily won the first set 6-1.
In the second set, van de Zandschulp managed to be a bit more competitive, at least early on, when he established a 2-1 lead in the set, but that didn't last long as the world no. 8 ended the set with another streak of games.
Ruud won five games in a row once more to win the match 6-1, 6-2, reaching the quarter-finals of the 2024 Estoril Open, where he'll await the winner of the match between Gael Monfils and Marton Fucsovics.
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