Musetti Reaches Second SF Of Season In Bastad, Ruud Advances

Lorenzo Musetti earned a comeback victory on Friday to reach his second tour-level semi-final of the season at the Nordea Open. The Italian moved past Austrian qualifier Filip Misolic 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Competing on the clay at the ATP 250 event in Bastad, Musetti improved as the match went on, moving freely and demonstrating great touch to pull Misolic around the court throughout the two-hour and six-minute clash.

Musetti, who survived a three-set scare in his first-round match against countryman Matteo Arnaldi, now holds a 14-9 record on clay this year, with his best result a run to the semi-finals at the ATP 500 in Barcelona.

The third seed is chasing his third tour-level title and first of the season in Bastad. He will continue his quest against top seed Casper Ruud.

The Norwegian Ruud defeated Austrian Sebastian Ofner 6-3, 6-4 to improve to 19-6 on clay this year. Ruud, who is into his fourth tour-level semi-final of 2023, has fond memories in Bastad, lifting the trophy in 2021. The World No. 4 is chasing his 11th tour-level crown and second of the season after triumphing in Estoril.

“It was another tricky day in the wind here in Bastad,” Ruud said. “I am very happy to be through in two sets and of course when it is windy, it is tough to feel that you are playing great all the time. But it was good enough, steady enough.”

In other action, Andrey Rublev swept aside Alexander Zverev 6-2, 6-3 to improve to 2-5 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

The second seed was strong on serve throughout the 69-minute clash. He won 80 per cent (24/30) of points on his first-serve delivery and saved both break points he faced to reach his fifth tour-level semi-final of the season.

Rublev reached the semi-finals on debut in Bastad last year and will be aiming to make it one step further when he meets fourth seed Francisco Cerundolo in the last four. The defending champion Cerundolo defeated Federico Coria 6-3, 6-3.

Earlier this year, the 25-year-old Rublev captured the biggest title of his career on clay when he lifted his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown in Monte-Carlo. He is now 16-4 on the surface in 2023.