Morwegian tennis star Casper Ruud overcame a stern test from world number 7 Holger Rune to advance to the final of the 2024 Mexican Open.
Ruud beat Rune 3-6 6-3 6-4 in the semi-finals on Saturday, March 2.
Ruud will now face off against reigning champion Alex de Minaur in hopes of surpassing last week’s result in Los Cabos, where he lost to Australia’s Jordan Thompson.
Ruud, the world No. 11, was pushed to an edge in a fiercely competitive match with the Rune, who despite his recent illness, began the match strongly, seizing the first set. Rune was a point away from securing the third game in the next set when his results began to falter, forfeiting momentum to Ruud.
As the match headed to the deciding set, Rune, who had to take medicine due to his ill health, broke the serve for 3-1 with an astounding forehand return, securing applause from spectators. Despite this setback, Ruud steadily regained his standing, rising to 5-4 with Rune, eventually sealing the win.
“I did not get the best start, and the third set looked really bad, I just tried to stay in there and it seemed like Holger was struggling and at the end it worked for me,” said Ruud after his win.
Earlier in the tournament, Ruud beat USA’s Ben Shelton in the quarter-final, overcoming him 6-7, 6-4, 6-4. In the round of 16 stage, Ruud beat Dusan Lajovic 6-4, 7-5, after downing Chris Eubanks of the USA 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 in the round of 32.
DE MINAUR OVERCOMES DRAPER
In the second semi-final, defending champion Alex de Minaur advanced to the final when opponent Jack Draper of Britain withdrew from the semi-final due to an unspecified issue. At the time of his retirement, he was trailing 6-3 2-6 4-0.
“It’s never easy. And I think it’s all about what kind of stage in the match it is. So that’s why it’s so important to try and get your nose ahead even in that third set,” said De Minaur after his match with Draper.