Casper Ruud beats Auger-Aliassime in his ATP Finals debut

• Casper Ruud defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime on Sunday
• Ruud arrived at the Pala Alpitour for his second participation
• Auger-Aliassime, on the other hand, had a difficult tournament debut

Casper Ruud defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime on Sunday in a matchup of two players with the biggest forehands on the ATP Tour, 7-6(4), 6-4, to get his 2022 ATP Finals campaign off to a winning start.

After a difficult stretch of form, Ruud arrived at the Pala Alpitour for his second participation at the coveted season finale. Prior to Turin, the 23-year-old had only won two games in four events, but he was on point right away, and his hard hitting consistently put Auger-Aliassime under pressure.

“I think this is some of the best level that I have played since the U.S. Open. The last couple of months have been a little bit of a struggle, I have to honestly say that, but you have to accept it as well,” said Ruud following the game.

“You will face difficult moments in your career, and maybe these last couple of months were one of those…

It doesn’t matter how hard you practice if you don’t win matches, so today was a great win for me,” he added.

A match in the Green Group that featured a lot of serves was ultimately determined by a few pivotal moments. The first singles match of the week was won by the third seed in one hour and 51 minutes thanks to a single break in the seventh game of the second set and Ruud’s ability to maintain consistency to pull ahead in the first set tie-break after the first five points had gone with serve.

Even though Auger-Aliassime outhit Ruud 30 to 19, the Norwegian provided little in the way of support. In the match, Ruud did not encounter a break point, bringing his ATP head-to-head record versus the Canadian to 3-1.

For the second year in a row, the third-seeded Ruud is hoping to advance through the round-robin round in Turin. Daniil Medvedev defeated the Norwegian in the 2021 semifinals.

“I had a great start, just the way I needed to. (Winning in straight sets). The next match is going to be tough no matter who I play, but at least I have a win in the bag,” said Ruud.

“I’m not going to try to relax, but I know that I don’t need to sort of stress or try to rush things to try to turn it around, so that’s hopefully a good thing…

I’m not going to count on anything, I’m just going to focus on the next two matches and in a way pretend that this never happened. So, I need to bring my A-game in the next two matches as well,” he added.

Auger-Aliassime, on the other hand, had a difficult tournament debut because he was unable to perform at the level that allowed him to win 16 straight matches and three straight ATP Tour titles in late October and early November.

Against Rafael Nadal and Taylor Fritz in his remaining round-robin matches, the 22-year-old Canadian will try to get his momentum back.

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