Stockholm
Ruud’s serving overshadows worrying begin in Stockholm opener
Second seed downs Cilic, units Korda QF at indoor hard-court ATP 250
October 15, 2025
Peter Hansson
Casper Ruud improves to 14-3 in opening-round matches in 2025.
By Jerome Coombe
Casper Ruud recovered rapidly from a shaky begin on Wednesday, producing a refined serving show to safe victory on his return to the BNP Paribas Nordic Open in Stockholm.
The second seed opened his marketing campaign on the indoor hard-court ATP 250 with a 7-6(2), 6-4 win towards the big-hitting Marin Cilic. After falling behind 1-4 within the opening set, Ruud discovered his rhythm with commanding serves and trademark motion to enhance his season file in opening rounds to 14-3.
Hanging scorching in Stockholm 🔥@bnppnordicopen | #bnppnordicopen | @CasperRuud98 pic.twitter.com/iEs9Su9W1q
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 15, 2025
“It was a very good match, I’m very glad,” mentioned Ruud, who improved to 4-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head collection with Cilic. “Marin is a good participant, very aggressive. He acquired a greater begin than me, so I simply tried to get my kind and rhythm again into the match. I’m actually proud of the win.”
Regardless of his early deficit, Ruud quickly took management from the baseline, combining exact groundstrokes with dominant serving to show the match round. He held serve to like in 4 straight video games within the first set and received all 12 first-serve factors within the second, based on Infosys ATP Stats.
Ruud’s one-hour, 50-minute triumph offered a lift to his bid to achieve the Nitto ATP Finals for the fourth time. The 2022 runner-up on the season finale is eleventh within the PIF ATP Dwell Race To Turin. Within the quarter-finals, he’ll face Sebastian Korda.
Korda earlier overcame Kamil Majchrzak 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in an exciting two-hour, 33-minute contest. The American dropped simply 4 of 28 factors on serve, based on Infosys ATP Stats, within the ultimate set to earn his a centesimal hard-court win, changing into the fifth participant born within the 2000s to take action.
In first-round motion on Wednesday, Lorenzo Sonego kickstarted his quest for a second indoor title by defeating British qualifier Arthur Fery 6-4, 6-2. Sonego set a second-round assembly with Aleksandar Kovecevic, who led eighth seed Camilo Ugo Carabelli 4-6, 7-5, 4-0 when the Argentine was compelled to retire by means of harm.
Marton Fucsovics eased previous Jesper de Jong 6-1, 6-2 to e-book a conflict with high seed and 2022 Stockholm champion Holger Rune.
