CASPER Ruud has claimed his second ATP Tour title with the Geneva Open overnight, defeating fellow up-and-comer Denis Shapovalov in a tight two-set contest. The Norwegian third seed has always been stronger on clay, and he showed it against the second seed Canadian, grinding out a first set tiebreak win, before recording the only break of the match in the second set.

Ruud won 7-6 6-4 in one hour and 41 minutes to dismiss Shapovalov, not even facing a break point credit to his consistent serving. It was a a theme of the tournament for the Norwegian, and he came to play in the final. Whilst his efficiency was still down (55 per cent), he still served four aces, and most importantly only dropped 12 points on serve in 11 service games. He won 79 and 81 per cent of his first and second serve points, while Shapovalov struggled off his second serve (58 per cent), serving eight aces, but five double faults. The Canadian did save four of five break points, but could not pressure Ruud enough to create a chance for himself.

“It feels great that I’ve been playing well lately and reaching the later stages in my past tournaments,” Ruud said post-match. “It is a big confidence-booster ahead of Roland Garros… It was a close match today and it could have gone either way.”

Ruud’s consistency throughout the Geneva Open saw him drop just the one set all tournament, and the Norwegian stood up to back up his 2020 maiden title win in Buenos Aires with a second title in Geneva.

“It feels as good to win today as it did in Buenos Aires [in 2020],” Ruud said. “I was more mature this week, knowing that I won a title before. It’s something else to do it the second time, but it’s the same great winning taste and winning feeling.”

Meanwhile after rain had delayed proceedings earlier in the tournament, the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon (Lyon Open) finalists were decided, with second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas to face unseeded Brit Cameron Norrie tonight. The Greek claimed a come-from-behind win over Italian teenager Lorenzo Musetti, 4-6 6-3 6-0 to book a spot in the final, while Norrie was on double duty, defeating French lucky loser Arthur Rinderknech in three sets, before destroying eighth seed Russian Karen Khachanov in the late semi-final overnight.

Norrie had a battle on his hands against Rinderknecht, needing one hour and 43 minutes to dismiss the world number 125 6-3 3-6 6-3, before pounding Khachanov in just 65 minutes enroute to a 6-1 6-1 smashing which included five breaks from seven service games.

“Everything was working well: serving well, returning well, anticipating the ball well,” Norrie said post-match. “I came forward when I needed to and was aggressive with good depth. It was nice to come through like that.”

Norrie will head into the final confident having smashed top seed Dominic Thiem 6-3 6-3 earlier in the week to best prepare himself for the clash with Tsitsipas. He enjoyed the back-to-back matches overnight to keep the momentum going.

“You just come out and you’re feeling the ball good and you’re playing well, I think I used that to my advantage,” Norrie said. “I played pretty flawless and pretty clean tennis against Karen. I returned exceptionally well, especially after facing Arthur’s serve.”

GONET GENEVA OPEN FINAL RESULT:

[3] Casper Ruud (NOR) defeated [2] Denis Shapovalov (CAN) 7-6 6-4

OPEN PARC AUVERGNE-RHONE-ALPES LYON SEMI-FINALS RESULTS:

[2] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) defeated Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) 4-6 6-3 6-0
Cameron Norrie (GBR) defeated [8] Karen Khachanov (RUS) 6-1 6-1

OPEN PARC AUVERGNE-RHONE-ALPES LYON QUARTER FINALS RESULTS:

Cameron Norrie (GBR) defeated [LL] Arthur Rinderknech (FRA) 6-33 3-6 6-3

Picture credit: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images