Casper Ruud Prevails at 2024 Barcelona Open for First 500-Level Title
The final was a rematch of the prior week's Monte-Carlo final between Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece.
In a rematch of last week’s Monte-Carlo final, Casper Ruud of Norway, 25, got his payback by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, 25, to win the Men’s Singles title at the 2024 Barcelona Open in Barcelona, Spain (an ATP 500 event). The score in the final was 7-5 and 6-3 in favor of Ruud.
This was the fifth match Ruud and Tsitsipas have played against each other on the ATP Tour - with both players having won two of their prior meetings. This is their third battle during the 2024 season so far - where Tsitsipas won the Monte-Carlo final and Ruud prevailed during the semifinals in Los Cabos.
Today’s victory was the first title Ruud has won on the 2024 ATP Tour and the eleventh title of his career in single’s competition. Notably, this was the first title he has claimed since prevailing at the Estoril Open in April 2023. Moreover, this was the tenth title he has taken at a clay court event. Despite being a three-time Grand Slam finalist, this was actually his first title from a 500-level event. And finally, Ruud has currently appeared at more finals during the 2024 season (4) than any other player on the tour.
Heading into this tournament, Ruud was ranked as the Number 6 tennis player on the 2024 ATP Tour, while Tsitsipas carried the Number 7 designation. By winning in Barcelona, Ruud has received 500 points in the overall rankings. Meanwhile, Tsitsipas has picked up 330 points.
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain (No. 3) was the tournament’s two-time reigning champion. This year though, he withdrew from the main draw with an arm injury. Ruud and Tsitsipas were the event’s third and fifth seeds, respectively. The tournament allowed the Top 16 seeds to advance directly to the second round. Notably, Ruud’s victory marks only the sixth time in the 21st century the tournament has been won by a non-Spanish player.
Ruud arrived in the final after winning against Alexandre Müller of France (No. 110), Jordan Thompson of Australia (No. 33), Matteo Arnaldi of Italy (No. 40), and Tomás Martín Etcheverry of Argentina (No. 30). He prevailed against the event’s third, thirteenth and fourteenth seeds to win the title.
In the other half of the main draw, Tsitsipas defeated Sebastian Ofner of Austria (No. 43), Roberto Carballés Baena of Spain (No. 72), Facundo Díaz Acosta of Argentina (No. 53), and Dušan Lajović of Serbia (No. 59). He didn’t face off against another seeded player until Ruud in the final.
The revised rankings for the 2024 ATP Tour will be officially released on Monday, April 22. The tour will then play one tournament between April 23 and May 5: the Madrid Open in Madrid, Spain (an ATP Masters 1000 event). The competition will be played on clay courts.
Alcaraz is also the two-time reigning champion at the Madrid Open. He is looking to defend the title as the event’s second seed this year. Ruud and Tsitsipas are contesting the tournament too as its fifth and sixth seeds, respectively.