WATCH: Flying Finn Emil Ruusuvuori upsets Frances Tiafoe at Barcelona Open
Emil Ruusuvuori caused a major upset in the Barcelona Open round of 32 after knocking out Frances Tiafoe.The Finnish star put on quite the display to send the American packing.
The 24-year-old is currently the highest-ranked tennis player from Finland and certainly showed off his ability in his recent victory over Tiafoe to push himself on to the next round.
The rising star booked his place in the second round after defeating Alexander Bublik in the round of 64. Ruusuvuori brushed the mercurial Bublik aside with a score of 6-0, 6-3.
Ruusuvuori certainly did the unexpected by defeating Tiafoe as he secured a 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4 victory over the American. Tiafoe currently sits at No 12 in the ATP Rankings, with Ruusuvuori 28 places behind him at No 40.
Although the stars had met twice over the course of their careers, before their round of 32 match, with Ruusuvuori winning both of them, so it is not too surprising that the 24-year-old managed to pull off the win against his American opponent.
Ruusuvuori has set a personal high at the competition by grabbing his spot in the round of 16. The star will certainly look to push his achievement further, and possibly win his first-ever title.
The Finn managed to serve a total of 11 aces and committed four double faults. He went on to win the match despite his inability to convert his break points, having only successfully converted 46% (6/13) of them.
Tiafoe, meanwhile, did not have a good day at the office having struck four aces, and four double faults. The American also found himself struggling to convert his break points, only managing to convert 24% (4/17) of them successfully.
What made Tiafoe’s poor performance even more surprising is the fact that he is fresh from winning at title on clay as he lifted the US Men’s Clay Court Championships trophy in Houston at the beginning of April.
The pair battled it out for two hours and 45 before the Finn took the win to claim his spot in the round of 16. Ruusuvuori will take on 10th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who grabbed his place in the round of 16 after defeating Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 6-3.
Davidovich currently sits two places ahead of Ruusuvuori at No 38 in the ATP Rankings.
This will be the third time that Ruusuvuori and Davidovich Fokina face each other, with both players having a win over the other. So an exciting fixture awaits us as the stars look to break the deadlock.
The pair will face each other in a heated round of 16 match tomorrow, with the time to still be determined.
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