Casper Ruud gained sweet revenge over Stefanos Tsitsipas as he beat the Greek fifth seed 7-5, 6-3 to win the Barcelona Open on Sunday.

Just seven days after Tsitsipas thumped Ruud in straight sets to win the Monte Carlo Masters, it was the Norwegian third seed who came out on top in the latest battle between the two 25-year-olds as he secured a 10th ATP title on clay.

“Honestly, this has been worth the wait,” Ruud said after capturing the biggest title of his career, with all his previous triumphs being in ATP 250 tournaments.

“I’m super happy to do it here in Barcelona in front of a packed stadium and on Rafa Nadal Court,” the sixth-ranked Ruud said.

“It’s special to me because I looked up to him (Nadal) all my childhood, came here myself as a 13-year-old boy to watch him and the others play here. It’s a great feeling.”

After seven failed attempts to win a final above the ATP 250 level, Ruud was relieved to finally get over that hurdle.

“A lot of finals that I’ve lost have been tough, a bit disappointing, of course,” he said.

“Any time you reach a final, it’s nonetheless a good week, so you can’t be too hard on yourself but this one has been a long time coming.”

Ruud also halted Tsitsipas’ 10-match winning streak.

The Greek gained an early break but Ruud soon got into his groove and from then on he frustrated Tsitsipas with his baseline tactics.

Ruud maintained the upper hand throughout the second set, during which he did not face a break point.

“In the final in Monte Carlo, I was always on the back foot, too far behind, and he had too much time to control the game,” said Ruud.

“It was a bit of a tricky start (here), I got broken right away. So not the best start, but I managed to settle in and broke him back.”

Reuters