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Norwegian is aiming to win his seventh tour-level title this week
Casper Ruud has settled in quickly on the clay in 2022.

The World No. 8 produced a clinical display to defeat home hope Federico Delbonis 6-3, 6-3 in the semi-finals of the Argentina Open on Saturday. The top seed won through in one hours, 39 minutes to improve his match record in Buenos Aires to 8-0.

Ruud and Delbonis were tied 1-1 in their ATP Head2Head series prior to the match, but Ruud has come a long way since he lost their first encounter in Sao Paulo in 2017, now the holder of six tour-level titles.

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After an early exchange of breaks in the first set, Ruud broke again for 5-3 as his strong hitting from the baseline overwhelmed Delbonis.

Delbonis had reached the semi-finals in Buenos Aires in 2018 but never looked likely to better than run as the Norwegian remained business-like throughout. The home crowd did their best to lift the Argentine but Ruud showed no let-up as he won 72 per cent (44/61) points behind his first serve.

Ruud will take on either second seed Diego Schwartzman or third seed Lorenzo Sonego in Sunday’s final. The Norwegian has never lost to Italian Sonego in three previous meetings but trails home favourite Schwartzman 5-2 in their ATP Head2Head series.

Norwegian moves to 9-0 career record at Argentina Open

Casper Ruud is making quite the habit out of picking up trophies.

The World No. 8 followed up his five ATP Tour titles from 2021 with a first of the new season on Sunday as he overcame local favourite Diego Schwartzman to win the Argentina Open for the second time.

The 2020 champion recovered from a first-set lapse to quieten an energised home crowd and seal a 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 win in two hours, 35 minutes in Buenos Aires.

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Top-seeded Ruud had not dropped a set this week on his way to the championship match, but he found himself in trouble before regaining his composure to see off the dogged Argentine.

A high-quality start saw both players spurn chances to break, most notably when Ruud sent a forehand long after a 42-shot marathon rally on set point that allowed Schwartzman to escape and go on to hold for 5-5.


The miss seemed to linger in the Norwegian’s mind and the Argentine took full advantage in the next game to secure the first break of the final. The World No. 15 went on to serve out for the first set as uncharacteristic errors crept into Ruud’s groundstrokes.

Despite the setback the powerful Norwegian still appeared to have the upper hand in most rallies and was a constant threat on Schwartzman’s serve. The Argentine saved four break points to hold in his opening service game of the second set, but the pressure began to tell as Ruud reeled off four games in a row from 2-2 to level the match.

Despite Schwartzman rallying to reclaim an early break in the decider, his spirit was ultimately not enough to stop Ruud as he finished with aplomb, crushing a forehand winner on match point to reduce the Argentine’s lead in the pair’s ATP Head2Head series to 5-3.

Schwartzman had ended a 13-year wait for an Argentine champion in Buenos Aires with his 2021 title and he fought valiantly to repeat last year’s heroics. The greater power of his opponent’s ball-striking proved too much, however. Ruud created 17 break point opportunities in the match and converted 4 of them.

Ruud is now unbeaten after two appearances in Buenos Aires, and Sunday’s win extended the Norwegian’s winning streak in ATP 250 events on clay to 18.

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