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The top seed Casper Ruud had to play only two matches to advance into the Nordea Open final in Bastad, trying to become the first Scandinavian champion in ten years. The Norwegian is through to his fifth ATP final (all on clay) following a 6-1, 6-4 triumph over Roberto Carballes Baena in an hour and 19 minutes, dropping only seven games so far this week!
Casper lost 16 points in nine service games, allowing the Spaniard to break him twice and erasing that deficit with a stellar performance on the return. Carballes Baena gave away 60% of the points behind the initial shot and suffered five breaks to propel the better-ranked opponent into the title clash.
Ruud held at 15 in the first game and broke at love a few minutes later to build the advantage. The Norwegian closed the third game with a smash winner at the net and placed a backhand down the line winner for another break and a 4-0 advantage.
Casper Ruud and Federico Coria are the last men standing in Bastad.
A service winner sent Casper 5-0 up, and he wrapped up an impressive opening set after a booming serve in game seven. They traded breaks at the beginning of the second set, and Ruud scored another at 1-1 following Carballes Baena's double fault.
Both players served well in the next four games before the Spaniard broke back at 3-4 when his rival sprayed a forehand mistake. Staying calm, the top seed grabbed a break at love to open a 5-4 gap and sealed the deal with a perfect hold in the next one to emerge at the top in style.
In the second semi-final, the 29-year-old Federico Coria toppled Yannick Hanfmann 6-2, 6-1 in 71 minutes to reach the first ATP final. Dominating on both serve and return, Coria dropped ten points behind the initial shot to avoid break chances, stealing the thunder from Hanfmann to earn five breaks and control the scoreboard from start to finish.
Federico opened a 4-0 lead in the opener and held with a service winner at 5-2 to seal it. The German couldn't raise his level in set number two, struggling on the return and getting broken thrice to propel Coria into the final, two decades after his brother Guillermo competed for the first ATP crown.