Rampant Ruud wins second Gstaad title in a row, comes back against Berrettini

Casper Ruud brilliantly defended his Gstaad title, beating Matteo Berrettini 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2.

He is unbeaten in Switzerland, with 16 match wins helping him to the titles at Geneva in 2021 and 2022 and the last two tournaments in Gstaad.

“I guess the Swiss crowd helps me a lot!” he smiled afterwards. “It’s been a pleasure to play in Gstaad.”

He added: “I changed it up a little bit in the third set, which helped. The games and points go by quickly if you’re not ready…it was key for me to hold my serve in the second set and save break points. The tiebreak, everything went in my favour.

“I just tried to keep that momentum going in the third set, and I played better and better.”

Ruud v Berrettini – clash of champions

The top two seeds met for the fifth time at tour level – both had two wins apiece in their head-to-head before this.

In fact, both men are former Gstaad champions, with Berrettini winning back in 2018, but Ruud was looking to become the first man to defend his title in Gstaad since Sergi Brugera, who won in 1992, 1993 and 1994.

Berrettini went into the match on a 12-match winning streak, having won the titles in Stuttgart and Queen’s after his return from injury.

However, he had not played since the Queen’s final, with Covid-19 forcing him out of Wimbledon before his first-round match against Cristian Garin.

Berrettini’s forehand deserted him during the second-set tiebreak, and his first serve also fell away at the start of the third as the Norwegian stepped further and further back behind the baseline.

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