Casper Ruud beat Brandon Nakashima 6-3 6-2 to advance to the third round at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell to earn his second ATP Tour 500 win.
Ruud broke four times to close out the match in 89 minutes. The Norwegian player will face either Alexander Bublik or Emil Ruusuvuori, who cruised past Feliciano Lopez 6-0 6-1.
Ruud saved two break points in the opening game before breaking serve in the second game to take a 2-0 lead. Nakashima broke straight back to draw level to 2-2.
Ruud won three consecutive games to take a 5-2 lead with a break in the sixth game. Nakashima saved a break point in the eighth game to hold serve for 3-5, but Ruud sealed the first set on his second set point. Ruud earned two more breaks in the first and fifth games to close out the second set 6-2.
Ruud is chasing his second ATP Tour title this season after winning the trophy in Buenos Aires last February.
Italian Next Gen player Lorenzo Musetti edged past Dan Evans 6-4 7-6 (10-8). Musetti converted his fourth break point in the first game and did not face any break points in his next service games. Musetti hit an ace and a volley at 5-4 30-15 and served out the first set, when Evans made a backhand return error on the set point.
Musetti started the second set with an immediate break and held his service game to open up a 2-0 lead, but Evans broke back to draw level to draw level to 2-2. Evans won five consecutive games from 0-2 to take a 5-2 lead with a second break in the sixth game. Musetti broke back in the ninth game on his third opportunity and held on his serve to draw level to 5-5. Musetti saved the first set points at 5-6 on Evans’ serve. The Italian player fended off the second set point at 6-7 with a drop-shot in the tie-break before closing out the match on his second match point.
Musetti will face Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman, who beat Mackenzie McDonald 6-2 6-2 on Pista Rafa Nadal. Schwartzman broke in seven of his eight return games but he dropped serve three times. McDonald saved four set points in the first game. Schwartzman broke twice in the third and fifth games to open up a 4-1 lead. McDonald pulled one break back at deuce in the sixth game at deuce for 2-4, but Schwartzman won the final two games with a third break in the seventh game to seal the first set 6-2.
The second set featured six breaks of serve in eight games. Schwartman went up a 3-0 lead. McDonald pulled one break back in the fourth game. Schwartzman broke at love in the fifth game to open up a 4-1 lead. McDonald broke straight back at love after a double fault from Schwartzman in the sixth game. Schwartzman converted his second break point at deuce and served it out on his second match point in the eighth game.
Schwartzman is 1-1 level with Musetti in their previous head-to-head matches. Last week Schwartzman came back from a set and a break point down to beat Musetti 2-6 6-4 6-3. Musetti beat Schwartzman 6-3 2-6 6-4 in Acapulco last year.
“Maybe I have many things to improve for the next round. Maybe I was not serving great. At the beginning of the match I was doing too many mistakes. At the end I I think in the second set I was playing my best, but I made too many mistakes. He had another opportunity to come back in the match after he broke for 4-2. I took the chance one more time and at the end I did great in the last game”, said Schwartzman.
Last year’s Rome Masters 1000 semifinalist Lorenzo Sonego overcame Swedish qualifier Elias Ymer 6-4 6-2. Sonego earned an early break as Ymer hit his forehand into the net. The Italian player saved three break points in the fourth game to hold serve for 3-1. Both players went on serve until the 10th game, when Sonego saved a break point before serving it out on his second set point. Sonego broke twice in the first and third games to seal the second set 6-2. Sonego will face the winner of the all-Spanish match between Pablo Carreno Busta and Bernabe Zapata Miralles.
Spanish qualifier Carlos Taberner cruised past world number 37 Sebastian Korda 6-3 6-0 after 67 minutes.
Taberner won 100% of his second serve points and saved the only break point he faced in the fourth game of the opening set before earning two breaks of serve in the fifth and ninth games to close out the first set 6-3. The world number 94 took a bagel win in the second set with three breaks of serve.
Taberner set up a second round match against this year’s Rotterdam champion Felix Auger Aliassime.
Cameron Norrie fought back from 1-3 down in the third set to beat Egor Gerasimov 5-7 6-4 6-4. Gerasimov earned the first break in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead. Norrie broke straight back in the seventh game for 3-4. Gerasimov broke for the second time in the 12th game to win the first set.
Norrie won the second set 6-4 with a break in the third game to send the match to the decider. Gerasimov went up a 3-1 lead with a break in the fourth game. Norrie broke straight back in the fifth game to draw level to 3-3. Norrie won the final three games with a break in the ninth game to close out the third set 6-4.
Lloyd Harris overcame Roberto Carballes Baena 6-4 7-6 (7-0) one week after losing in the opening round in his first clay match of the year at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. The South African player earned the first break in the ninth game too win the opening set 6-4.
Harris converted his third break point in the third game of second set to take a 2-1 lead. Carballes Baena broke straight back in the fourth game to draw level to 2-2. Both players went on serve in the next games en route to the tie-break. Harris earned three mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-0.
Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics knocked out Jordan Thompson 6-4 6-2. Emil Ruusuvuori eased past Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez 6-0 6-1.
