Barcelona Open: Defending champion Ruud makes strong start

Norwegian Casper Ruud, the defending champion and second seed, won against Colombian qualifier Daniel Elahi Galan 6-4, 6-3 to move into the second round of the Barcelona Open at Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on Tuesday.

Ruud, ranked No 10, will face Serb qualifier Hamad Medjedovic next.

“I was able to win some good points from 4-4, 0-30 down,” Ruud said, quoted by the ATP Tour website. “I held serve and broke him right away… That’s a little bit of a steal, I would say. All in all, I’m very happy with the match, and the win.

“I had many chances in the beginning that I couldn’t take, but we got there in the end. I’m happy to be back in Barcelona and get a straight-sets win. One year ago, I had one of the best weeks of my life, so the memories come back.”

Barcelona ATP 500, other first-round results (Real Club de Tenis Barcelona, clay, EUR 2.889.200, most recent results first):

• Stan Wawrinka vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
• Carlos Alcaraz vs. Ethan Quinn
• Karen Khachanov vs. Cameron Norrie
• Frances Tiafoe vs. Jaume Munar
• Tomas Martin Etcheverry vs. Alex De Minaur: tuesday
• Laslo Djere vs. Arthur Rinderknech: tuesday
• Sebastian Baez beat Damir Dzumhur (LL): 6-1, 7-5
• Arthur Fils (7) beat Pablo Carreno Busta (WC): 7-6 (6), 6-3
• Stefanos Tsitsipas (3) beat Reilly Opelka: 6-2, 6-2
• Andrey Rublev (4) beat Jesper De Jong (Q): 6-1, 6-3
• Holger Rune (6) beat Albert Ramos-Vinolas (WC): 7-5, 6-4
• Hamad Medjedovic beat Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard: 7-5, 7-6 (6)
• Jacob Fearnley (LL) beat Roberto Carballes Baena: 6-1, 7-5
• Sebastian Korda beat Matteo Arnaldi: 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
• Pedro Martinez Portero beat Brandon Nakashima: 7-5, 5-7, 6-4