Staff Reporter.
@ATP.
Casper Ruud won his first title of the year on Sunday as he defeated Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic 6-1, 7-6 (7/3) in the final of the clay-court tournament in Estoril.
The fifth-ranked Norwegian reeled off five straight games in the opening set but was pushed much harder in the second by Kecmanovic, who also reached the doubles final this week.
Ruud’s title was the 10th of his career, all but one of which have come on clay.
A runner-up to Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros last year, Ruud had failed to win more than one match at any of his six previous tournaments this season.
The 24-year-old will climb one spot to fourth in the rankings on Monday.
“I feel great. It’s my first time in Estoril and first time lucky, I guess,” Ruud said during the trophy ceremony. “To be here with the trophy this Sunday is very special. It’s been quite some months since I won my last title, so it’s very important.”
It also marked Ruud’s first ATP Head2Head victory against Kecmanovic, who leads their series 2-1. The Serbian praised his friend during the trophy ceremony.
“You were too good today. Good job this week and good luck for the rest of the year,” Kecmanovic said. “Thank you to everybody who came out. It was my first time here. I really enjoyed playing in front of you guys and I really hope I can come back next time.”
Meanwhile Novak Djokovic says he is “motivated” to make a better than usual start to the clay-court season in Monte Carlo as he tunes up for a 23rd Grand Slam bid at the French Open.
The Serb is back on court after failing to get a waiver to enter the United States for last month’s Indian Wells tournament and Miami Open due to his anti-Covid vaccination stance.
“I hope I will start well, because the last three tournaments in Monte Carlo I have not been very successful,” the world No 1 said on Sunday.
“And I’m also motivated because I didn’t play for the past month,” added Djokovic, who is due to enter the Monte Carlo Masters fray in the second round against qualifiers American Mackenzie McDonald or Russian Ivan Gakhov.
A winner in 2013 and 2015, Djokovic will fancy his chances of going far in a tournament robbed of 11-time winner Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz due to injury.