Bastad Honoured for 11 Straight Years by the Players
Celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2023, the Nordea Open in Bastad (Båstad) was voted by players as the ATP 250 Tournament of the Year for 11 consecutive years from 2002-12. The ATP 250 has taken place every summer since 1948, with the exception of 2020 and has consistently improved as an event.
Casper Ruud: Johan Lilja
Roland Garros was where I started to feel really good on the court, this year has not been necessarily great every week. Every time I can make final is a good thing for me and I hope I am on a good course for the rest of this summer and the rest of the year. - Casper Ruud
This Sunday, under the Swedish bright sun and sporadic rains, two players reached the finals; the 25-year-old Rublev, who defeated Casper Ruud in the final, takes his second championship of the year.
This win was not expected by the top seed Ruud, who is a former champion in Bastad, having triumphed in 2021. Casper Ruud, the fourth-ranked player in the world, who easily won his first clay-court match since losing to Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros, and proceeded to the semifinals Thursday in Bastad.
Roland Garros was where I started to feel really good on the court; this year has not necessarily been great every week. Every time I can make finals, it is a good thing for me, and I hope I am on a good course for the rest of this summer and the rest of the year."
Ruud reached his third tour-level final of the season on Saturday when he overcame Italian Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 7-5. Ahead of the Sunday's final, Ruud records 3 wins and meets Rublev with strong merits. Naturally the 24-year-old was chasing his 11th tour-level trophy and second in Bastad.
Examining what remains to be endured for the rest of the tour and his ability, "Every week is going to be important, throughout this summer and the rest of the year," Ruud stated humbly during the press conference, reflecting on his new ranking and his coming weeks on the tour in Europe and the America from August.
Nordea Open ATP. Photo Credit: Linda Carlsson
I think I was lucky a lot with the weather conditions. Normally Casper has amazing spin, and he likes to serve kik, but when the weather is like this, the ball doesn't jump as high as in dry weather. Today I played amazing. Everything went my way today. Tomorrow I have to start working again because I am going to play in Hamburg. It is a great feeling to win one more title. This season, I won only two titles. The things that you worked for—and when you make them—that is a great feeling. - Rublev said.
Rublev increased his lead against Ruud in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series to 5-2 with his 18th tour-level clay court victory of the year. Now, Rublev has prevailed in all four of the duo's encounters on clay courts. After winning the tournament, the 25-year-old Rublev moved up three positions to fourth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race to Turin. At the end of the season, he plans to compete in the Nitto ATP Finals for the fourth time. Rublev won the largest trophy of his career earlier this year when he prevailed in the ATP Masters 1000 competition in Monte-Carlo.
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