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Ruud restores family pride at French Open after almost 30 years

Casper Ruud restored a little family pride at the French Open on Tuesday when he defeated Brazil's Felipe Meligeni Alves whose uncle once deprived the Norwegian's father of a tour title.

Ruud, runner-up at Roland Garros for the last two years, swept aside his opponent 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.

Up in the stands on Court Philippe Chatrier was his father and coach Christian, a former top 40 player who only reached one final in his career.

That was in Bastad in 1995 when he lost to Fernando Meligeni.

"We talked about it at breakfast, actually," said Norwegian seventh seed Ruud.

"My father lost the Bastad final one time in his career, so he was never able to win an ATP tournament, and the guy he lost to in the final was Felipe's uncle.

"I think both me and my dad wanted to get some revenge on the Meligeni family. It was worth the wait, I guess. It was many years we had to wait, but we got it today."

Meligeni ended his career with a 2-0 record over Christian Ruud, also defeating the Norwegian in the second round of the US Open in 1997.
Source: AFP