Martinez hangs on to upset top seed Ruud in Estoril

Spaniard Pedro Martinez reached the final of the Estoril Open by edging out Norwegian Casper Ruud, the top seed, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at Clube de Ténis do Estoril on Saturday evening.

In what was a match-of-the-week contender, the pair battled it out for three hours, seven minutes in the semi-final clash – well over the length of Ruud’s past two matches combined. Both played at a high level, with Ruud coming back from 5-1 down in the deciding set, including an epic 16-minute game at 5-2 that saw Ruud overcome three match points.

Martinez, however, played brilliant attacking tennis, and now moves into his third ATP final. The Spaniard is on a nine-match winning streak as well, having claimed the Challenger in Girona last week.

“If I wanted to win I had to play my best, and even if like this, I might not win,” said Martinez after his victory over Ruud. “At the end I was a little bit nervous, but I’m happy I got the win.”

This was the first top 10 victory for world No 77 Martinez in seven attempts. Next up, he’ll face another top 10 player in Hubert Hurkacz, the second seed.

“Casper is a top 10, Hubert is a top 10,” declared Martinez. “For sure if I want to win again it’s going to be a big battle, I’m going to give everything.”

Earlier in the tournament, the Spaniard won against German Daniel Altmaier (6-4, 6-2), Roberto Bautista Agut (7-5, 6-4) and French lucky loser Richard Gasquet (6-4, 6-4).

Ruud, ranked No 8, defeated Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp (6-1, 6-2) and Hungarian Marton Fucsovics (6-3, 6-2) in the previous rounds of the Estoril tournament.

Estoril ATP 250, other semi-final result (Clube de Ténis do Estoril, clay, EUR 579.320):

• Hubert Hurkacz beat Cristian Garin: 6-3, 3-6, 6-3