Sinner Shines Against Ruud In Vienna
Nineteen-year-old Italian Jannik Sinner needed nearly two hours on Wednesday to claim a straight-sets victory over Casper Ruud in a first-round battle between rising stars at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.
The Italian’s win booked a second-round meeting against fifth seed Andrey Rublev as he seeks his third quarter-final of the season on indoor hard courts, after posting last eight appearances in Cologne and at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.
The reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion came into Vienna with a career-high FedEx ATP Ranking of No. 43 after a scintillating run of tennis saw him reach the semi-finals at last week’s bett1HULKS Championship in Cologne, backing up a breakthrough at Roland Garros where he reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final.
Sinner continued the momentum against World No. 27 Ruud in his Vienna opener, dropping serve only once across both sets and winning 76% of his first-serve points en route to a 7-6(2), 6-3 victory.
It was a server’s contest in the opening set as neither Ruud nor Sinner converted the few break opportunities on offer. Ruud, the Buenos Aires champion, was competing in his first indoor hard court match of the year and had to save three break points in a lengthy seventh game that went to deuce five times. He held firm and notched a backhand volley at the net that dropped just out of Sinner’s reach to keep them on serve at 4-3.
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Sinner himself had to fight off a crucial break chance as the set wound to a close, denying the Norwegian a set point at 5-6 to send them into a decider. Sinner claimed the first mini-break of the tie-break at 3/1 with a zinging forehand, and it would prove to be decisive as he reeled off the next three points to escape with the opening set, 7-6(2).
He continued to pressure the Ruud second serve — winning 54% of points on the Norwegian’s second delivery across both sets — and was rewarded with an early break to start the second set with a 3-0 lead. Ruud got the break back a few games later at 3-2, but couldn’t hold off Sinner a second time as the Italian raised his level to reestablish the lead at 5-3.
A flurry of winners, including an ace for good measure, brought up three match points for Sinner in the next game. Ruud dug deep to save them all, but was powerless against the fourth, as Sinner’s backhands pulled him out wide before he netted a forehand to send Sinner into the second round.