TOP-SEEDED CASPER RUUD BEATS

J.J. WOLF IN GENEVA OPEN 2ND ROUND

GENEVA (AP) — happy with — my career so far,” he said. “I still have the hunger to keep going.”

Top-seeded Casper Ruud began his Geneva Open title defence by beating J.J. Wolf 6-3, 7-5 in the second round yesterday.

The No. 4-ranked Ruud lifted his career record to 9-0 at Geneva, where he won back-to-back titles in the past two years. The clay-court event is a final warmup for the French Open and Ruud was runner-up there last year.

Ruud double-faulted on his first match-point chance against the 49th-ranked American before taking the second with a forehand winner as he advanced to the net.

“It’s a great win for me. J.J. is an aggressive, tough player,” said Ruud, who will face Nicolas Jarry in the quarterfinals today.

Jarry advanced when his opponent, sixth-seeded Tallon Griekspoor, withdrew ahead of their match.

Second-seeded Taylor Fritz struggled in the first set of his 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win in an all-American match with No. 74-ranked Marcus Giron.

That sort of desire exists for Nadal, too. He just could not will his hip to heal quickly enough.

It will be odd to hold a French Open without him. Odd for the tournament itself, for other players, for spectators.

And odd for him.

“With everything that the tournament means to me, you can imagine how difficult this is for me,” Nadal said. “It is not a decision I make; it is a decision that my body has made.”

Fritz’s quarterfinals opponent is Ilya Ivashka, who beat eighth-seeded Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

Fourth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov, who got a wild card into the Geneva draw, eased past Roberto Carballes Baena 6-1, 6-4 to earn a quarterfinals match against 85th-ranked Christopher O’Connell of Australia.

O’Connell led 6-0, 3-0 against Bernabe Zapata Miralles when the seventhseeded Spaniard retired from the match.