Barcelona Open: Ruud eased past Jordan Thompson to.reach last eight

Casper Ruud eased past Jordan Thompson 6-1, 6-4 at the clay-court ATP 500 for his 26th win of the season. With his victory, Ruud moved clear of Jannik Sinner for the most tour-level triumphs in 2024.

Ruud who is a 10-time ATP Tour champion spoke before the tournament about his desire to convert his consistent performances so far this year into title wins.

The 25-year-old will likely not have to wait long if he continues playing the sort of tennis he produced against Thompson, who was unable to match his opponent’s clean hitting from the baseline.

Ruud has reached three finals already this year (Los Cabos, Acapulco, Monte-Carlo), raced into an early 5-0 lead and hardly looked back from there on Pista Rafa Nadal. He closed out the opening set before clinching a decisive break in the seventh game of the second, ultimately wrapping a 73-minute victory.

Now into the quarter-finals in Barcelona for the second time, Ruud will take on Matteo Arnaldi next in Spain. The Italian No. 40 in the PIF ATP Rankings earlier downed Marco Trungelliti 6-3, 6-0 to secure his last-eight spot.