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Norwegian tennis star Casper Ruud is determined to win Gstaad and finish his clay season in style. Ruud, seeded at No. 3, saw off Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva 63 6-0 to reach the Gstaad final. Last week, Ruud claimed his second ATP title of the season after beating Federico Coria in the Bastad final.
Ruud is now aiming to win back-to-back titles for the first time in his career. Ruud's opponent in the final will be Hugo Gaston, who beat No. 7 seed Laslo Djere. Ruud insists it won't be easy against world No. 155 Gaston. "I have been having high motivation and a good mentality these past few weeks," Ruud said, per the ATP website.
"It is the last chance I get to play on clay before the clay season is done for me. I am playing good tennis with good intensity. The ball is bouncing really high, and with the high altitude. It suites me well. "I am excited. It is not always you are playing in finals, so it is a special feeling.
I need to think what I did well the last time in Switzerland in Geneva, which was also against a lefty and a young player. It will be a tough match, Gaston is young and I will have to be on the top of my game to have a chance."
Ruud dominated Kopriva
Kopriva, who stunned Denis Shapovalov in the round-of-16, stood no chance against Ruud.
Kopriva started the match with a break but Ruud broke back in the second game. Ruud then earned his second break of the match in the eighth game, before serving out for the opener in the following game. After winning the first set, Ruud then earned three breaks in the second set and dropped no service games to book a comfortable straight-set win.
Ruud finished the match on an eight-game run. Ruud is aiming to win his third ATP title of the season as earlier this year he beat Shapovalov in the Geneva final.