Casper Ruud beat Roberto Carballes Baena 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 to reach the second round at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires in his first match since last January’s ATP Cup in Sydney. Ruud made his come-back after an ankle injury forced him to withdraw from the Australian Open.
Ruud, who won the Argentina Open, has extended his record to 6-0 at this tournament.
Carballes Baena went up break in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead, but Ruud broke straight back to draw level to 3-3. The first set went on serve en route to the tie-break. Ruud earned two mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-2.
Ruud started the second set with an early break at deuce in the first game of the second set. Carballes Baena broke back from 30-40 down in the sixth game to draw level to draw level to 3-3. Ruud broke serve at love in the seventh game and sealed the win with another break on his third match point.
“It was a good start. First time playing on clay in six months, so everything is a bit new again. Of course I prefer to play on clay, but it takes some time to get used to the court and playing points. I feel very good in Buenos Aires. I was a bit nervous coming back because it’s the first time I have to defend a title. Everything is a bit different since two years ago. When I won here it was a surprise, I was young”, said Ruud.
Ruud set up a quarter final against Federico Coria, who came back from one set down to beat Dusan Lajovic 4-6 7-5 6-4 with five breaks of serve.
Coria went down 3-5 down in the second set, but he came back to win the final four games to close out the second set 7-5. The Argentine reeled off 12 consecutive points to come back from 0-1 down to take a 3-1 lead with a decisive break in the third game.
Ruud beat Coria in the final of the Swedish Open in 2021.
“I know Federico well. Last year we played in Bastad, so it was my home court, and now we are playing here in Buenos Aires, so it’s his home. It will be tough for me, and I hope i can play a good match and of course feel again the good energy from the stadium”, said Ruud.
Fernando Verdasco came back from one set down to beat Thiago Monteiro 2-6 6-3 7-5. Monteiro earned two breaks and saved three break points in the sixth game before closing out the first set 6-2 on his first opportunity.
Verdasco won the second set 6-3 with a break in the second game. Both players traded breaks in the third and fourth games of the third set and held their serve until the 11th game, before Verdasco sealed the win with a break in the 11th game to close out the decisive set 7-5.
Verdasco set up a quarter final match against Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego, who beat Argentina’s Sebastian Baez 6-3 6-3.
The match started with four consecutive breaks of serve. Sonego won four consecutive games from 2-3 down to clinch the first set 6-3.
Sonego saved two break points in the first game and three more chances in the fifth game. Baez fended off a break point in the second game. The set went on serve until the eighth game, when Sonego earned the decisive break to take a 5-3 lead. The Italian player saved two break-back points before sealing the win on his first match point.
