Casper Ruud had to face Davidovich in the round of 16 in Miami

Ruud won 6-3, 6-4 over the 24-year-old 28th seeded Spaniard in the match that was held on Monday night, Norwegian time.

In the round of 16, he will meet Chilean Nicolas Jarry, seeded twenty-second, or Brazilian Thiabo Siboth Wild. They weren't finished when Ruud's victory was achieved.

Davidovich, who has a Swedish-Russian father and a Russian mother, is half a year younger than Ruud, but has achieved much less than him on the tennis court. He has the advantage of winning titles (Ruud has ten), but he has caused the Norwegian coach a lot of trouble in head-to-head meetings.

Ruud had to see himself defeated in his previous two matches against Davidovich, both in major tournaments. There were defeats after five sets at Roland Garros in 2021 and in three sets at the Toronto Masters last year.

Rune duel

Ruud's loss in Toronto means Holger Röhn has surpassed him in the ATP rankings for the first time.

Now victory could help Ruud pass Ron again, as the Dane has already lost in the second round in Miami. In the previous ranking, Ron was in seventh place and Rod was in eighth place, separated by 230 points.

Ron's loss cost him 80 points in the rankings, and already with his victory on Saturday over Luca van Assche, it was clear that Ruud would increase his points tally.

Gravel then

Ruud has worked on improving his hard court game, and there is no doubt that he has succeeded in doing so. He reached the finals of two major tournaments in Mexico on this surface, and the quarter-finals in Indian Wells.

After the tournament in Miami, Ruud turned his nose toward Europe and the clay court season. First up will be Portugal and Estoril, where they are defending the title after winning last year. It is his former title.

Then there are three more Masters tournaments (Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome), before the stage is set for Roland Garros, where Ruud has reached the final in two successive editions.