Eliminating Stefanos Tsitsipas, Casper Rudd Advances to the Los Cabos Open Final
Casper Ruud advanced to the ATP hardcourt event final in Los Cabos, Mexico, on Friday after defeating reigning winner Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) after a strong start.
Ruud, ranked fourth, won the first set without dropping a point on his serve. In the second set, he needed to save five set points to win in straight sets.
In the championship match on Saturday, the Norwegian will take on either eighth-seeded Australian Jordan Thompson or top-seeded German Alexander Zverev.
Overall, Ruud stated, “it was a really close match, especially the second set.” “I was lucky enough to hold him off there and save a few set points.”
Ruud, who had faced set points in his previous two service games, said, “I was just a bit lucky.” He stormed to a 4-0 lead in the tiebreaker and completed the match in one hour and forty-nine minutes.
Ruud, who won in San Diego in 2021, is hoping to win a second hard-court championship in his career. In three major 2022 title matches—the Miami Open, US Open, and Nitto ATP Finals—he was runner-up. He has won every championship he has held at the ATP 250 level.
If the No. 4 seed beats the winner of Saturday’s match between top seed Alexander Zverev and Australia’s Jordan Thompson, he will pass Tsitsipas when the rankings are released again and make a comeback to the Top 10.
By the conclusion of play, both Ruud and Thompson are expected to do double duty; Ruud will team up with William Blumberg, while Thompson will team up with Max Purcell.
