Casper Ruud reached his third tour-level final of the season on Saturday when he overcame Italian Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 7-5 at the Nordea Open.

Competing on the clay at the ATP 250 event in Bastad, Ruud caused Musetti problems with his weight and depth of shot. The Norwegian struck his groundstrokes with heavy topspin and earned the decisive break of the second set in the 11th game to advance after one hour and 46 minutes.

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The top seed Ruud is a former champion in Bastad, having triumphed in 2021. He will compete for his second title at the tournament and 11th overall when he meets Andrey Rublev in the final.

With his 20th tour-level win of the season on clay, Ruud improved to 1-1 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series against Musetti. Earlier this season, the 24-year-old captured his 10th tour-level trophy and ninth on clay in Estoril.

The 21-year-old Italian Musetti was chasing his first title of the season. Last year, he triumphed at tour-level events in Hamburg and Naples.

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Rublev moved to within one win of clinching his second title of the season, overcoming Francisco Cerundolo 7-6(6), 6-7(7), 6-3 in two hours and 49 minutes.

In a thrilling clash, both players opened their shoulders to exchange brutal blows on the Bastad clay, with Rublev breaking Cerundolo’s serve twice in the third set to improve to 37-14 on the season.

The second seed, who lifted his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown in Monte-Carlo earlier this season, is aiming to win his 14th tour-level title. Rublev has captured four of his trophies on clay.