Casper Ruud survived a stern test from Quentin Halys to advance to his first final of 2023 at the Millennium Estoril Open. The Norwegian progressed to his 16th tour-level final with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2) victory on Saturday at the ATP 250.
The top-seeded Ruud will play for his 10th tour-level title against his good friend Miomir Kecmanovic in Sunday’s final. It will be the pair’s third ATP Head2Head meeting but first since 2019, with Ruud seeking his first win in the matchup.
Watch Sunday’s final from 4:30 p.m. CET/10:30 a.m. ET
“It was another great match, a long match, a close and exciting match,” said Ruud, who beat Halys 11-9 in the fifth set at the 2018 Australian Open. “I’m just very happy that it went in my favour. It’s just some points here and there that decide a match like this… I’m happy to win a match 7-6 in the third. That’s always a great feeling.
“Quentin has a great serve, great power from the baseline. It was tough for me to find a rhythm in the rallies but in the end I was just trying to stay there and make him play, and luckily it went my way.”
Ruud overcame 16 aces from the Frenchman Halys, who beat Dominic Thiem in the Estoril quarter-finals and had not lost a set prior to Saturday’s match. After each of the first two sets were decided by a single, early break, there were no break chances on offer in the deciding set, with each man battling through deuce once on serve. Ruud took an off-court medical timeout late in the second set as his first-serve percentage dipped, but he showed no signs of wear in the final set.
After clipping the edge of the line with a forehand winner on the first point of the decisive tie-break, Ruud opened up a 3/0 lead and never looked back, wrapping up the win in two hours, 10 minutes. Through to his 12th clay-court tour-level final, and his first title match of any kind since the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals, Ruud passed Daniil Medvedev and returned to No. 4 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings with his semi-final win.
Halys moved up 15 places to No. 65 this week in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings by reaching his first tour-level semi-final.
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Earlier in Estoril, the sixth-seeded Kecmanovic continued his dominant run with a 6-3, 6-1 win against Marco Cecchinato. The Serbian has not lost a set in his four wins this week on the way to his fourth tour-level final and second of 2023 (Delray Beach).
The 23-year-old needed just one hour, eight minutes to defeat Cecchinato, saving both break points against him while converting on four of his eight break chances.
Kecmanovic will play for his second ATP Tour title after his 2020 triumph in Kitzbühel, while Cecchinato was denied a sixth tour-level final and first since 2021. By reaching the title match, Kecmanovic has moved up six places to No. 34 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings this week. He would rise two more places to No. 32 by winning the trophy.
The Serbian also advanced to the Estoril doubles final on Saturday, teaming with countryman Nikola Cacic for a 6-2, 1-6, 10-3 semi-final win against third seeds Gonzalo Escobar and Fabien Reboul.
Looking ahead to the singles final, Ruud shared his excitement about playing his friend in such a big match.
“It’s going to be fun. Miomir is a good friend of mine, one of my better friends on Tour. It’s going to be an exciting match. To play each other in the final is going to be fun, for the first time in our career,” he said. “He’s been playing great, so I have to be prepared for a very tough match. He’s been winning straight sets and killing everyone almost. So I have to be ready and just hoping that I can play well and have fun tomorrow in another final.”