BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – In a final of the ATP 250 tournament in Buenos Aires between its last two winners, Norwegian Casper Ruud (8th in the world) defeated Argentine Diego Schwartzman (15th), defending champion, 5-7, 6- 2, 6-3 to lift the 7th trophy of his career, his sixth on the ground.
In the first set, everything changed in the tenth game. At 4-5, 30-40, Schwartzman had to save a set point on his serve after an endless exchange, before winning the game and then making the break for the next he comes to me in the nets to win the set 7-5 winning his “white” serve.
In the second set, Ruud, who had wasted nine so far, finally made a break point, his tenth, to get away with 4-2 and then equalize in a set everywhere.
The last set quickly turned in favor of the Norwegian: the winner of the tournament in 2020 made the entry break and then lined up with two shutouts to lead 4-1. Despite his courage, Schwartzman, mitigated by his long battles in three sets already, in the quarters and then in the halves, ended up breaking.
This title secures Ruud to retain his 8th place in the next ATP rankings on Monday, ahead of Rotterdam tournament winner Félix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, who would rejoice in the event of a defeat by his side in his final capital. Argentina.
It also allows the Norwegian to increase the number of consecutive victories on the ground to sixteen, a surface on which he has won the last four tournaments he has played there: Bastad, Gstaad, Kizbuhel in July 2021 and Buenos Aires.
Schwartzman’s counter, who has competed in the 12th consecutive Buenos Aires tournament since 2011 and played his thirteenth circuit final at the age of 29, remains out of the four titles.
