“The Iceman” cometh – Ruud notches first UTS win with victory over “The Thunder” Struff

Casper Ruud aka “The Iceman” netted his first UTS victory in Frankfurt on Friday evening, 22-6, 12-13, 17-8, 16-11, over “The Thunder” Jan-Lennard Struff to bolster his chances from reaching the final four at the UTS Frankfurt by Builder.ai.

Ruud, who fell to “The Rebel” Benoit Paire in his UTS debut earlier on Friday, rebounded to sail past the hard-hitting German in an entertaining counter at the Süwag Energie Arena in Frankfurt.

“It was great,” said Ruud on court after the win. “Especially when you win, it’s extra fun. [I lost] a close match earlier so I was happy to win a close match now, to get a win on the board – let’s see what happens tomorrow.”

Struff went winless on the evening – he won the opening quarter against “G-Unit” Grigor Dimitrov, but squandered a fourth quarter lead and fell, 14-17, 18-11, 17-9, 14-13.

Struff was able to capture a tense second quarter against the Norwegian, 12-11, as he completed a mad scramble at the end of the quarter and won a deciding point when Ruud shanked a backhand.

But it was Ruud who was on the front foot for most of the encounter, and the ninth-ranked Norwegian rebounded to take set three convincingly, converting his first quarter point with a booming inside-out forehand winner.

Struff had chances in the fourth quarter but Ruud managed his cards well and pulled away at the finish. The 24-year-old converted his three-point card at the buzzer for 15-11 and then concluded his victory on the next point.

Ruud finished by winning 29 more points than Struff over the course of the contest.

“This match I was able to use the three-point card better, that helps, it was very good from the first set to the last ball,” Ruud said. “I think I learned a lot from the first match coming into this one and hopefully tomorrow as well I can play even better.”

Nine out of Ten

How good was Ruud’s first day of UTS Frankfurt by Builder.ai? Almost perfect, he said.

“Maybe a nine (out of 10),” he said on court after the win. “It was really fun – of course if I had two wins it would be a 10, but overall a great day, new format, new style of tennis. It’s really fun and I have the chance to be able to go to sleep with one victory at least and tomorrow I have the chance to win one more, hopefully make it into the semi-finals.”

And the Norwegian said he was getting to grips with the format and the rules, including talking to the commentators at the changes of ends.

Yeah a little bit. But it’s ok, we have 3 minutes rest, that’s fine. It’s fun to get the expressions, how we feel for the fans as well. They get a sense on how we feel out there.

“We have three minutes rest, so that’s fine,” he said. “It’s fun to get the expressions, how we feel for the fans as well. They get a sense on how we feel out there. The music is loud and stops just before you serve. Distracting maybe a little, but I was able to do it better this time and enjoy it.”

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