Ruud trapped by Bautista Agut in Basel
Casper Ruud has had it. The Norwegian's tennis is becoming increasingly shaky, and he has just conceded his 4th defeat in 5 matches.
Faced with Roberto Bautista Agut, who recently won the title in Antwerp, the world number 8 fell back into his old ways.
Playing very far from his line, he let his opponent set up his cadenced game.
Cruelly lacking in percussion, Ruud was defeated in just over 2 hours (6-3, 3-6, 6-3) and will need to bounce back quickly.
Indeed, his place at the year-end Masters is not yet guaranteed, and his main rivals (Dimitrov, Paul, Rublev) seem to be in much better shape.
Bâle
As a laboratory for tomorrow’s tennis, does the Next Gen Masters have a future?
Tennis: the little-known truths about the offseason, between rest, stress and physical survival
What if tennis lost its soul? The case of robotized officiating, between tradition and a dehumanized modernity
Features - Saudi Arabia, injuries, war, and business: the fascinating underbelly of tennis revealed by TennisTemple