Rublev battles past Cerundolo at Nordea Open to reach his fifth final of the year

Andrey Rublev has reached the final of the Nordea Open, earning his place in Sunday’s title match by overcoming a brilliant performance from Francisco Cerundolo, beating the Argentine 7-6 (6), 6-7 (7), 6-3 at the Båstads tennisstadion.

In a full-throttle and gripping encounter, both men put on an exhibition of all-out attack, exchanging punishing rallies on Bastad’s clay surface in an epic contest that spanned two hours and 49 minutes.

There was almost nothing to separate the two players across the opening two sets, with the Russian taking the first on a tiebreak, before Cerundolo evened the score by taking the second breaker.

Rublev defended his serve excellently under extreme pressure, fending off 10 out of 11 break point opportunities Cerundolo had managed to create.

The tables were then turned when Rublev finally managed to make headway on the Argentine’s serve in the deciding stanza, breaking a tiring Cerundolo’s serve twice to take the third 6-3 and clinch a place in his fifth ATP final of the year.

“It was really tough conditions to play. It was really windy, it suddenly was full of sun,” Rublev after the match.

“By the end of the second set, we managed to play a really good level.”

Awaiting Rublev in the final is top seed and Roland-Garros finalist Casper Ruud, in what promises to be an intriguing encounter.

Ahead of his victory, the Russian beat qualifier Pavel Kotov (6-3, 7-6 (4)) and German Alexander Zverev, the No 5 seed (6-2, 6-3).

Cerundolo, ranked No 20, defeated Frenchman Luca Van Assche (6-2, 6-3) and Federico Coria (6-3, 6-3) en route to the final.

Rublev is aiming to win his 14th tour-level title, and his fifth on clay. The world No 7 won his maiden Masters 1000 title on the red clay of Monte-Carlo at the end of April and has developed into a highly adept clay-courter.

The 24-year-old Norwegian, meanwhile, is looking to capture his 11th tour-level trophy and tenth on clay, having take the title in Estoril earlier this year and made the final of Roland-Garros.

“It’s gonna be [a] crazy match. Last couple of times he beat me. We’re good friends and we respect each other a lot,” said the Russian when asked about the prospect of facing Ruud on Sunday.

With clay-court prowess and plenty of power on show, it should be a high-quality and compelling contest for the title.

Bastad ATP250, other semi-final result (Båstads tennisstadion, clay, EUR 562.815):

• Casper Ruud beat Lorenzo Musetti (3): 6-3, 7-5