Casper Ruud claimed his first ATP Tour title of the 2023 season with a 6-2 7-6 (7-2) win over his friend Miomir Kecmanovic in the Millenium Estoril Open without dropping his serve in the final.
Ruud entered the Estoril tournament with a record of five wins to 6 defeats. He dropped the first set against Portugal’s Joao Sousa in his opening match before taking the win in three sets. He won two of his four matches in three sets this week en route to the final.
Ruud earned his first break at 1-1 with his forehand winner. The Norwegian player took control of the first set with a huge forehand in the fifth game.
Kecmanovic fended off five break points he faced in the fifth and seventh game of the second set, but he was unable to convert three chances on return. Both players went on serve en route to the tie-break. Ruud earned his first mini-break to take a 3-2 lead, but Kecmanovic pulled back on serve to draw level to 3-3. Ruud went ahead 5-3 with his second mini-break, when Kecmanovic missed a crosscourt backhand wide. Ruud got another mini-break with a backhand passing shot from behind the baseline. Ruud converted the first of his three match points.
Ruud beat Kecmanovic for the first time in their three head-to-head matches.
“I feel great. It’s my first time in Estoril and first time lucky. To be here with the trophy this Sunday is very special. It’s been quite some months since I won my last title, so it’s very important. I felt great. All my stay was great with the fans, great stadium, great atmosphere on this court. It was a full stadium every time that I was on the court, so thank you to everyone who is here today and also during the week.”, said Ruud in his post match interview.
Kecmanovic praised Ruud during the award ceremony. “You were too good today. Good job and good luck for the the rest of the year. Thank you to everybody who came out. It was my first time here. I really enjoyed playing in front of you guys and I really hope I can come back next time”, said Kecmanovic.
