Barcelona Open: Casper Ruud downs Ben Shelton to storm into Round of 16

Barcelona [Spain], April 18 : Casper Ruud started his 2023 Barcelona Open campaign with a successful win over American Ben Shelton on Tuesday.

The third-seeded Norwegian held off Shelton 6-2, 7-6(1) to book a quarter-final spot. Ruud defeated the 20-year-old left-handed Shelton in the second round in 70 minutes despite the American overturning a 3-5 lead in the second set to force a tie-break.

Despite Shelton's second-set comeback, Ruud's superior clay expertise ultimately became apparent on Pista Rafa Nadal at crucial times. The 24-year-old, who has won nine titles at the tour level on clay, held four of five break points against a player who was playing on red clay for the first set ever.

In Barcelona, Ruud will face either Francesco Passaro or Francisco Cerundolo, the 15th seed. The Norwegian is seeking to build on the title he earned in Estoril earlier this month following a sluggish start to the year. He also made it to the final eight in Barcelona in 2022.

"He was playing great, and I think I was playing great. I played a perfect first set and he was making maybe a few too many mistakes... But I think all throughout the second set was tough games, tough rallies," ATP.com quoted Ruud as saying.

"It can be difficult. In the first set you feel like you get a lot of free points, and so on, but then suddenly he starts playing almost like a wall and playing really good from on defence. It's tough when someone changes in the middle of the match, but I'm very happy that I was able to stay calm and play a very good tie-break," he said.

"Obviously I wanted my revenge. Different surface, different continent, different tournament... I felt like I had a little bit more time here to build the points on clay, which is normal," said Ruud when asked about whether his Cincinnati defeat had given him extra motivation.

"It was in the back of my mind. I think Cincinnati last year was a breakout tournament for Ben, where things started going so well for him. Obviously, this year as well [at the Australian Open], where he made the quarter-finals, so he's had an unbelievable progression in a short period of time... I had to be on top of my game and tried to feel more at home than him somehow on the red clay," he added.

Diego Schwartzman gave a commanding opening performance at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona-1899 on Tuesday as well. The Argentine defeated Wu Yibing 6-2, 6-2 to set up a match against fourth seed Jannik Sinner in the second round.

Schwartzman will be hoping that his 79-minute victory over the quickly emerging Chinese star Wu, during which he converted five of 11 break points, can serve as the impetus for even better outcomes in 2023. The 30-year-old Argentine is now 5-10 on the season, but he has a track record of success in Barcelona, where he twice advanced to the semifinals.