The third-cultivated Norwegian was defeated by the American, ranked 229th, a typical underrated school player.
On Tuesday, Casper Ruud crushed Ben Shelton 6-2, 7-6 (1) to progress to the quarterfinals of the Barcelona Open for the second year straight. The third-cultivated Norwegian lost to Shelton, an American who was ranked 229th worldwide and a relatively unknown school player, in Cincinnati last year.
Ruud said, “I wanted my revenge.” I had the impression, as is typical, that I had more time to construct the points in clay here. Shelton competed in earth court competitions this season, but on a different surface and on a different continent, following his breakthrough match in Cincinnati. At both Monte Carlo and Estoril, he lost in the principal round.
This month, Ruud won his first title of the year in Estoril. His next opponents are Francisco Cerndolo, who is ranked 15th, or Francesco Passaro, who defeated Fernando Verdasco on Tuesday 6-1, 6-1. Diego Schwartzman also squashed Wu Yibing 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the accompanying round, where he will defy Jannik Loser, the fourth-created player.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina defeated Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 6-3, and David Goffin defeated Feliciano Lopez 6-0, 7-6 (3), 6-7 (4). Following that, champion Carlos Alcaraz faced No. Portugal’s Nuno Borges finished 79th.