Korea Open 2022: Casper Ruud vs Nicolas Jarry preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (1) Casper Ruud vs (Q) Nicolas Jarry.
Date: September 29, 2022.
Tournament: Korea Open 2022.
Round: Second round (Round of 16).
Venue: Seoul, South Korea.
Category: ATP 250.
Surface: Hard.
Prize money: $1,237,570.
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | Canada - TSN | Australia - beIN Sports.
Casper Ruud vs Nicolas Jarry preview
Following an opening-round bye, World No. 2 Casper Ruud will lock horns with qualifier Nicolas Jarry in the second round of the 2022 Korea Open on Thursday.
This has been the best season of Ruud's career so far. An injury ruled him out of the Australian Open, but he won the Argentina Open upon his return to the tour. He then reached his first Masters 1000 final at the Miami Open, but lost to Carlos Alcaraz.
Ruud's clay swing got off to a slow start, but gathered steam as it progressed. He made it to the semifinals of the Italian Open and then successfully defended his Geneva Open title. The Norwegian reached his maiden Grand Slam final at the French Open, but was easily defeated by Rafael Nadal. He had an underwhelming grass season, but won yet another title at the Swiss Open after that.
Following a semi-final finish at the Canadian Open, Ruud was stunned by Ben Shelton in the second round at the Western & Southern Open. He rebounded by reaching his second Grand Slam final of the year at the US Open, but lost to Alcaraz yet again.
Since then, Ruud has played a solitary match each at the Davis Cup and the Laver Cup, winning both.
Nicolas Jarry scored straight-sets wins over Tatsuma Ito and Aleksandar Kovacevic in the qualifying rounds to seal his place in the main draw. He took on Ryan Peniston in the first round.
Jarry snagged a break in the sixth game of the opening set to go 4-2 up. After another couple of games, he easily served out the set. Neither player managed to secure a break of serve in the second set, which led to a tie-break.
While Peniston fought hard, he was always on the backfoot. Jarry was able to close out the proceedings on his fourth match point to win 6-3, 7-6(8).
Casper Ruud vs Nicolas Jarry head-to-head
The two have not crossed paths on the tour prior to this, so the head-to-head is tied at 0-0 for now.
Casper Ruud vs Nicolas Jarry odds
(All odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Casper Ruud vs Nicolas Jarry prediction
Considering Jarry's 4-7 record this season, it'll be an uphill battle for him against Ruud. However, the World No. 2 has been on the receiving end of a couple of upset wins over the last few months. If the Chilean steps up his game, he might just be the latest to do so.
Jarry didn't face a single break point against Peniston in the previous round and won 90% of his first serve points. He'll need to produce similar numbers against Ruud as well. However, he hardly won any points off of his second serve and will need to do better in that metric.
Ruud has improved considerably this season and that's been evident from his results. He has started to perform well on hardcourts as well, shedding his tag as a clay court specialist. The Norwegian should be able to handle whatever his opponent throws at him and advance to the next round with ease.
Pick: Casper Ruud to win in straight sets.