Casper Ruud, first eighth finalist after defeating the electric Ben Shelton

Casper Ruudthe first seed in action, is also the first tennis player to qualify for the round of 16 in Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell-70th Conde de Godó Trophy. The Norwegian, world number 3, defeated -6-2, 7-6 (1)- against the electric Ben Shelton, at 20 years old another interesting exponent of the uninhibited new batch with many gunpowder in his shots.

Ruud, 24, controlled the young American’s momentum well in the first set (6-2) and put his victory on the right track by breaking his rival’s serve in the sixth game of the second (4-2).

However, Shelton, with several points that dazzled the public in the center court for his dedication and physical waste, extended by returning the break to the Norwegian in the 10th game (5-5). Of course, the greater experience and composure of Ruud destroys the tiebreak, where Casper scores with great authority 7-1.

Leaving EVERYTHING there 🏃‍♂️😜👍@BenShelton is pushing Ruud to the limit to force a decision @bcnopenbs | #BCNOpenBS pic.twitter.com/a9Jufh1Bjl

— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 18, 2023

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Shelton experienced a meteoric rise last year, breaking into the world top-500 in June and the top-100 in November to finish the season ranked 96th. However, his real international performance happened at the Australian Open, his first trip outside of USA, where he reached the quarterfinals. This week it is at number 37, the best ranking.

Ruud, the third favorite of Godó’2023, is for part of the box of Carlos Alcaraz and this is his theoretical opponent in a hypothetical semifinal if both can live up to the script, though two potentially big obstacles await the Norwegian, the Argentine Francisco Cerundolo in the eighth and the Russian Karen Khachanova in the quarterfinals.

Ruud is a new ‘David Ferrer’

Ruud is a new ‘David Ferrer’tennis players who don’t have as many sure shots as the big stars, but are very hard to beat and, therefore, capable of carving out an extraordinary career by optimizing their resources.

Without further ado, the Norwegian already has 10 ATP titles and another six finals, including four first-levels, all in 2022 and it all boils down to the numbers: Roland Garros (Nadal), US Open (Alcaraz), masters (Djokovic) and Miami Masters 1,000 (Alcaraz).