Stat of the Day: Casper Ruud has now won his last 12 clay-court matches in a row

Last July, Casper Ruud pulled off something that hadn't been done in almost a decade—he won three ATP titles in three weeks, sweeping a trio of clay-court events in Bastad, Gstaad and Kitzbuhel.

And after playing exclusively on hard courts for the last six months, Ruud made a winning return to his favorite surface on Wednesday night, battling past Roberto Carballes Baena in his opening match in Buenos Aires, 7-6 (2), 6-3.

With his victory over the Spaniard, Ruud has now extended his clay-court winning streak to 12 matches in a row—he’s also won 18 of his last 19 (starting in Geneva last year) and 22 of his last 24 (starting in Madrid last year).

RUUD ON CLAY SINCE MADRID LAST MAY:
4-1 at 2021 Madrid (reached SFs - l. to Berrettini)
4-0 at 2021 Geneva (won title)
2-1 at 2021 Roland Garros (reached 3rd Rd - l. to Davidovich Fokina)
3-0 at 2021 Bastad (won title)
4-0 at 2021 Gstaad (won title)
4-0 at 2021 Kitzbuhel (won title)
1-0 so far at 2022 Buenos Aires (into QFs)

Ruud will try to make it 13 in a row, 19 of his last 20 and 23 of his last 25 on Friday, as he takes on Federico Coria in the quarterfinals of the ATP 250 event.