Ruthless Rublev beats Casper Ruud to win the Nordea Open title

Andrey Rublev lifted his second tour-level title of the season by beating the Norwegian in the final in Bastad

Andrey Rublev at Roland-Garros (AI/Reuters/Panoramic)

Jamie Malachy

July 23, 2023

Nordea Open •Final • completed

See draw

C. RuudvsA. Rublev

Andrey Rublev has won the 14th ATP title of his career, beating top seed Casper Ruud 7-6 (3), 6-0 at the Båstads tennisstadion to lift the Nordea Open trophy.

In a lopsided affair, the world No 7 was taken to a first set tiebreak as little could separate two highly adept clay-courters.

However, having comfortably taken the breaker 7-3, the Russian then put his foot on the accelerator, upping his intensity as he looked to push home his advantage.

Ruud, on the other hand, fell away dramatically in what turned out to be the final set, with Rublev closing out the match with a bagel – with it, the title.

Ruud rusty as lack of matches pays its price

Fatigue likely played a part for the Norwegian, who has played few competitive tennis matches since his run to the Roland-Garros final last month.

Rublev put in a series of fine performances at Wimbledon to reach the last eight, which came off the back of solid preparation for the grass-court Grand Slam by reaching the final in Halle.

Ruud, however, chose not to play any grass-court tennis in the run-up to Wimbledon, with the repercussions self-evident as he crashed out in round two to Liam Broady – one of the major upsets on the men’s side of the draw.

As a result, the world No 4 had only played two competitive matches between the French Open final and the start of the tournament this week in Bastad.

After a promising week of tennis, during which he beat beat Russian Alexander Shevchenko (6-2, 6-4), Austrian Sebastian Ofner (6-3, 6-4) and Italian Lorenzo Musetti, the No 3 seed (6-3, 7-5), this final proved a step too far for Casper Ruud, as he works his back into regular competitive action.

RELENTLESS RUBLEV 🎉@AndreyRublev97 claims his second title of the year in Bastad! The number 2 seed defeats Ruud 7-6 6-0!#NordeaOpen @NordeaOpen pic.twitter.com/bJ0WWpO2gf
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) July 23, 2023

Ruthless Rublev quietly constructing highly impressive season

For Rublev, a highly successful grass-court campaign has now been backed up with a thoroughly impressive title run at the Nordea Open.

He beat qualifier Pavel Kotov (6-3, 7-6 (4)) in his opening round, before showing his ruthless side by brushing aside the considerable challenge of Alexander Zverev (6-2, 6-3) and then seeing off Francisco Cerundolo in three tight sets en route to the final.

“In the beginning of the day, I was thinking that because of the rain, we weren’t going to play, so I was not really even motivated to play,” Rublev said after the match.

“When they told us we had to play, somehow, I was able to switch on, and I was able to play a really, really great match today.”

The Russian has now recorded his 18th tour-level clay-court win of the season, and moves 5-2 up in his head-to-head against Ruud, as he continues to construct a very positive season.

At the end of April, the 25-year-old won the first Masters 1000 title of his career by taking the crown in Monte-Carlo. With victory in Bastad today, Rublev has taken his tally to 14 ATP titles – five of those coming on clay – and has won his second title of the season.

The world No 7 will be delighted with the perfect European send-off before turning his attention to the US hard-court swing that is right around the corner.