Casper Ruud’s serve masks worrying start to Stockholm opener against Marin Cilic | ATP Tour
Stockholm
Rudd’s serve masks worrying start to Stockholm opener
The second seed defeated Cilic and pushed Koda QF to indoor hard court ATP 250
October 15, 2025
Peter Hansen
Casper Ruud improves to 14-3 in first-round games in 2025.
Jerome Coombe
Caspar Ruud bounced back from a shaky start to win the BNP Paribas Nordic Open in Stockholm on Wednesday with a superb serve performance.
The second seed started his campaign with a 7-6(2), 6-4 victory over the strong Marin Cilic at the indoor hard court ATP 250 event. After trailing 4-1 in the first set, Rudd found his rhythm with serve and signature moves, improving his season-opening record to 14-3.
Stockholm is hot 🔥@bnppnordicopen | #bnppnordicopen | @CasperRuud98 pic.twitter.com/iEs9Su9W1q
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 15, 2025
“It was a great match and I’m very happy,” said Rudd, who improved to 4-0 in the Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Cilic. “Marin is a great player, very aggressive. He had a better start than me, so I was just trying to get my form and rhythm back into the game. I’m very happy with this win.”
Despite falling behind initially, Rudd quickly took control from the baseline, combining precise baseline strokes with dominant serves to turn the tide of the match. He held his serve for four consecutive games in the first set and won all 12 first-serve points in the second set, according to Infosys ATP statistics.
Ruud’s 1 hour and 50 minute victory provided the impetus for his fourth Nitto ATP Finals appearance. The 2022 season final runner-up finished in 11th place at the PIF ATP Turin Live event. In the quarter-finals he will face Sebastian Korda.
Earlier, Korda defeated Kamil Majchrzak 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in a thrilling match that lasted 2 hours and 33 minutes. The American conceded just four of his 28 points in the final to claim his 100th win on hard courts and become the fifth player born in the 2000s, according to Infosys ATP statistics.
Lorenzo Sonego began his quest for a second indoor title with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over British qualifier Arthur Fery in Wednesday’s first round match. Sonego will face Alexander Kovicevic in the second round, who was leading eighth seed Camilo Hugo Carabelli 4-6, 7-5, 4-0 when the Argentine was forced to withdraw due to injury.
Marton Fucsovics easily defeated Jesper de Jong 6-1, 6-2 to set up a match with top seed and 2022 Stockholm champion Holger Rune.
