Canadian Open 2022: 3 factors which stood out in Casper Ruud's 3R win over Roberto Bautista-Agut

Fourth seed Casper Ruud beat 14th seed Roberto Bautista-Agut 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 in a marathon match that lasted three hours and 18 minutes to move into the quarterfinals of the 2022 Canadian Open on Thursday.

Ruud is now the only player remaining out of the top five seeds of the tournament. The 23-year-old Norwegian will face Felix Auger-Aliassime for a place in the semifinals on Friday.

On that note, let’s take a look at three factors that stood out in the match:

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#1. Bautista-Agut won the close first set through a tie-break

Roberto Bautista-Agut won the first set playing high-quality tennis

Roberto Bautista-Agut raced to a 4-2 lead in the first set, breaking Casper Ruud in the process. However, the Norwegian broke back immediately and held his serve to level the score. The first set then went into a tie-break, which the Spaniard managed to win.

Ruud attacked extensively with his forehand in the first set and managed to hit a staggering 17 winners off it. However, he also committed eight unforced errors off his backhand, as Bautista-Agut often put pressure on it through his inside-out forehand. The Spaniard was also a lot more disciplined and committed only 10 unforced errors in the first set against Ruud's 17.

Bautista-Agut also served well, registering a first-serve ratio of 75% and managing to hit five aces in the first set.

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#2. Casper Ruud managed to draw level with a hard-fought win in the second set

Neither player could break the other's serve in the second set, taking it to another tie-break. Ruud emerged triumphant by holding his nerve during the key moments and managed to draw level.

Ruud started hitting his backhand with more power and precision towards the end of the first set and continued the improvement in the second. He also managed to hit a few wonderful down-the-line backhand winners to stun Bautista-Agut.

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#3. Casper Ruud emerged as the winner after yet another closely-fought set

Ruud got the decisive break in the third and final set to lead 5-4 and then managed to hold his serve to win the closely-fought match. Both players played their angles very well throughout the match, with Ruud particularly impressive on his crosscourt forehands.

Ruud's serve improved after the first set and he finished the match with 10 aces, the same as Bautista-Agut. However, his first-serve ratio remained at a modest 61% against Bautista-Agut's 72%. That said, the Norwegian was the more attacking player of the two and hit 57 winners in the match as opposed to Bautista-Agut's 46.