Ruud survives a scare to secure Gstaad quarters

Two-time champion Casper Ruud had to work for more than two and a  half hours to overcome Jaime Faria, the Portuguese who put out Stan Wawrinka in the first round at the Gstaad Swiss Open on Thursday.

Faria was riding the momentum from Tuesday’s defeat of three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka, set to retire this season and beaten in an opening match at his home venue.

Faria had his eye on a second upset as he faced Ruud, who lifted the trophy at this elite alpine village in 2021 and 2022. 

Ruud  ahd to dodge a bullet and mount a comeback to get through the second-round test against the Portuguese.

After dropping the opening set in a tiebreaker, Ruud played patiently as Faria saved five break points in the sixth game of the second set before failing on the sixth.

Ruud then pulled away for a 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2 victory, his first since Roland Garros.

“Sometimes it is hard to say when you get a good feeling and you start to win some games in a row,” the winner said.

“You try from the first game to the last, but suddenly something clicked in the middle of the second for me, luckily.”

He added: “I had to really fight hard and if I played one bad game in the second and he serves well, it could be over and it would be time to go home. But luckily I can extend the stay.”

The Scandinavian could join Spaniards Sergi Bruguera and Alex Corretja as three-time winners in the Alps, with Ruud now standing 10-1 here over his career.