Finally where he wants to be physically, Casper Ruud cruises in Roland Garros return 

Line Calls, presented by FanDuel: Casper Ruud to win his quarter

“Might have been that we sort of messed up a little bit on that hand, I have to be honest and say. I think all of us in the team have felt that way maybe.”

Before launching his latest Roland Garros bid, Casper Ruud returned to the site of his first major final carrying a modest 16-11 season record. The decision to delay his pre-season training block until after the Australian Open proved to be insufficient preparation for the North American hard-court swing, putting the Norwegian under the microscope even further when the tours transitioned to European clay.

An initial title at the ATP 250 event in Estoril was foiled by early exits in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid. Ruud bounced back with a third successive Rome semifinal showing, though saw a set and 4-2 lead against Holger Rune go to waste in an eventual defeat. The following week, his bid for a Geneva three-peat ended in the quarterfinals by eventual champion Nicolas Jarry.

“It's okay. Everything is still a learning process. We will learn for next time, and I feel physically good now,” Ruud said Tuesday.

With 1200 points to defend, there’s no denying Ruud has extra pressure on his shoulders to reassert both his prowess on red dirt and ability to string together victories when the going gets tough. Opening Day 2 play on Court Suzanne Lenglen, the 24-year-old passed his opening hurdle with plenty of clearance. Ruud countered dropping serve on all three break points he faced by winning eight return games against qualifier Elias Ymer.

The extended format shift on the Grand Slam stage also provided Ruud an extra security blanket after admitting to feeling the nerves in the early goings, eventually leading to a comfortable 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 victory over the Swede.

“Best-of-five sets on clay, it takes a little longer to finish the match, to put it this way. I think that's in a way calming, and I don't sort of fear too much getting broken, and I don't stress too much. That's what I at least felt last year,” he explained.“The matches that I have lost this year, many of them have been to aggressive, big servers.

“The conditions are fairly slow this year, so I feel like I have a lot of time to sort of figure out what I need to do in order to try to win the matches that I play.”

Ruud’s path back to the second week of Roland Garros is as manageable as they come. Should the No. 4 seed avoid the upset bug against qualifier Giulio Zeppieri, world No. 71 Zhang Zhizhen or 153rd-ranked qualifier Thiago Agustin Tirante await in the third round. Tommy Paul is the only seed left before the quarterfinals, though the No. 16 seed could have his hands full with Jarry in round two.