Casper Ruud has been one of the best performers on clay in 2021 and he added another great run in Geneva ending up with the trophy.
It was a good match from start to finish from Casper Ruud in the
Geneva Open final. He faced off against Denis Shapovalov and defeated him 7-6(6) 6-4 in 103 minutes of play. It capped off a great week for Ruud who has been one of the better clay performers in 2021.
His performance was stellar as he was able to win 79 % of his first servers and 81 % of his first serves in a serving clinic. It was not by accident as Ruud revamped his serve explaining after the match:
“It’s a little bit like the movement that Roger [Federer] does when he rotates with his head and it almost looks like he can see the ball at impact. That gave me some inspiration looking at the way he’s serving. He’s not the tallest guy, but he always had a big serve."
The slight adjust for Ruud had a wonderous impact as he explained:
“I think it’s been [a] positive [change] that is helping the arm and body feel better, and also I’m serving better. I’m placing the ball better and I have a better pace on the ball. I think it was a great change and a great improvement."
The trophy and win for Ruud is a great boost ahead of the Roland Garros as he said after the match:
“I feel great that I’ve been playing well lately. In the past few tournaments, I’ve been reaching the later stages. It’s a good confidence-booster for Roland Garros, but it’s a new tournament and new conditions and best-of-five sets."
For Roland Garros Ruud hopes to go as far as he can go hoping his recent results might mentally impact his opponents:
“I hope I can do well, and hopefully the form I’ve been showing recently can affect the other players and they will think that it will be a tough challenge if they play me. That’s also the goal."