Ruud Up & Running In Monte-Carlo

Casper Ruud did not have things all his own way on Wednesday at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, but he raised his level when needed to earn his fifth consecutive win.

The Norwegian saved one set point at 4-5, 30/40 in the second set and recovered from failing to serve out the match at 6-5 to eventually overcome Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp 7-5, 7-6(1) at the clay-court event.

"It is never easy to start at a new tournament and against a player I have lost to before," Ruud said. "Also more recently in Miami this year, which was a tough three-setter. I was a bit sloppy and didn't take my chances. Sometimes it is a little tricky playing someone you recently lost to, like 'Not again', but in this case I was a bit happy because I felt like some unfinished business from the Miami match."

Ruud, who reached the semi-finals in the Principality in 2021, is chasing his first ATP Masters 1000 crown this week. The fourth seed will play Jan-Lennard Struff in the third round after the German upset 14th-seeded Australian Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-2.

After failing to win consecutive matches at any tour-level event at the start of 2023, Ruud enjoyed a confidence-boosting run to his ninth clay-court title in Estoril last week.

"It felt great last week in Estoril," Ruud said. "It felt very comfortable. Today was at times a very good match, but at times a little rusty. There are a lot of positives to build on and I am very happy to be here in Monte-Carlo."

The 24-year-old, currently No. 3 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, struggled to find consistency throughout the two-hour, 16-minute clash on Court Rainier III, dropping the ball short at times which allowed the Dutchman to attack. However, he held his nerve in the second-set tie-break, racing clear to improve to 2-3 in his ATP Head2Head series against Van de Zandschulp.