ATP Finals 2022: Casper Ruud stuns Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets to take provisional lead in Green Group

Casper Ruud pulled out a top drawer victory in the first match of the 2022 ATP Finals, beating Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets. Coming into the contest as a slight underdog, Ruud put in a dominant performance to upset the Canadian 7-6(4), 6-4.

Auger-Aliassime, who had been riding a 16-match win-streak until his semifinal loss to Holger Rune at the recently concluded Paris Masters, picked up his second successive defeat as a result. Both players started strong, holding all their service games with relative ease to take the set to the tiebreaker.

Ruud had the upper hand early on in the tiebreaker, securing a mini break at 4-2 before the World No. 6 pulled it back. However, Auger-Aliassime was unable to grind it out like the Norwegian, losing three straight points to hand the set to his opponent.

The second set was a more straightforward affair, with Ruud breaking Auger-Aliassime's serve and racing to a 4-3 lead. From there on, despite a couple of scares, the World No. 4 held his nerves to close out the contest. Most importantly, Ruud faced no break points on the night and converted the one and only break point opportunity he got on the 22-year-old's serve.

Overall, Ruud won 66 points on the night as compared to Auger-Aliassime's 60, winning 76% (41/54) of his first serve points and 71% (10/14) of his second serve points. With the victory, the 23-year-old has taken the provisional lead in the Green Group, with Taylor Fritz and Rafael Nadal set to meet in the second match of the day in the night session.

Casper Ruud now has a 3-1 lead in the head-to-head against Felix Auger-Aliassime

Casper Ruud at the Nitto ATP Finals previews

Thanks to his victory at the 2022 ATP Finals, Casper Ruud now has a 3-1 lead in the head-to-head against Felix Auger-Aliassime, winning all three of their most recent encounters. All three wins have also come in straight sets, with only one of those stretching to the tiebreaker.

The Norwegian has added 200 points to his tally as well, earning $543,300 for his efforts. Auger-Aliassime, on the other hand, has no points to boast of yet, but has earned $160,000 from his participation fee. With Taylor Fritz and Rafael Nadal coming up after this in the group stage, Ruud will be happy with the big win he scored in his opening match, while the the Canadian will be ruing the loss of a good opportunity.