Ruud beats Norrie in San Diego for 5th triumph of season

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Second-seeded Casper Ruud of Norway beat Cameron Norrie of Britain 6-0, 6-2 on Sunday in the San Diego Open for his ATP Tour-leading fifth victory of the season.

Ruud, ranked No. 10 in the world, had little trouble turning back Norrie, ranked No. 28, to go 5 for 5 in finals this year.

The 22-year-old player won his first hardcourt title, completing an impressive run through the inaugural tournament that included a victory over former three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray.

"It gives me a lot of confidence, obviously," Ruud said. "The self-belief that I can beat good players on hardcourts and here I did four good matches in a row four days in a row."

He made quick work of Norrie after beating Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 on Saturday.

"Yesterday, was really a tough battle and was a high-quality match," Ruud said. "Today. I just went out there and tried to bring the experience I have from this year's finals and knowing how much winning a final means, to push myself a little extra, and it went really well. One of the best matches I've played all year."

After breezing through the first set, Ruud was briefly challenged by Norrie in the second set, which was tied 2-2. But Ruud closed it out, winning on a 40-30 match point when Norrie missed a shot out of bounds.

Norrie won his first ATP Tour title earlier this year in Acapulco, and beat top-seeded Andrey Rublev, ranked No. 5 in the world, on Saturday in the semifinals.

The tournament was created to help fill a gap in the ATP calendar created when the post-U.S. Open circuit in Asia was called off because of COVID-19 concerns.