Shanghai, 12 October: Casper Ruud defeated American rising star Learner Tien in the third round of the Shanghai Masters 6-4, 7-6 (3) to march into the round of 16.
Ruud, seeded 20th, beat the 14th seed in one hour and 42 minutes to move into the next round, relying on his serves and first serves to cap off a strong performance.
He fired in 13 aces, compared to Tien’s seven and also won 89% of his first-serve points, with the American winning 69% of his first serves. He also broke Tien once, with the important break coming in the 10th game of the first set to win it. He also saved both the break points against the American.
Meanwhile, Felix Auger-Aliassime also made it to the pre-quarters as he got the better of Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta in a three-setter battle, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, to storm into the RO16 and will be facing Ruud next.
Fourth-seed Auger-Aliassime had to dig in a bit more but used his first serves and net points well. He nailed 80% of his points on his first serve and also won 14 of the 18 net points. Busta, meanwhile, won only 63% of his first serve and five points at the net.
The Canadian also fired in 37 winners and also broke the Spaniard four times in the match, while he lost his serve only once. Two of those four breaks came in the first set as Auger-Aliassime won it 6-3 before the Spaniard replied.
Carreno Busta then broke early in the second set and held his serves for a 6-4 second-set win. However, he was blown away in the decider, where the Canadian again broke Carreno Busta twice, once to take a 3-1 lead and then to take a 5-1 lead, as he then held his serve to secure a win.
Auger-Aliassime and Ruud will meet next in the pre-quarters. The two have met each other eight times with the Canadian holding a 5-3 lead over the Norwegian. Auger-Aliassime has won all of the previous four encounters between the two, which included an Olympic quarterfinal victory too.
Their last meeting came in the Monte-Carlo Masters 1000 event, where the Canadian won after Ruud retired.
