Rublev Wins One-Sided Bastad Battle Over Ruud

Andrey Rublev
Andrey Rublev (photo: Linda Carlsson)

BASTAD/WASHINGTON, July 23, 2023 (by Michael Dickens)

Sunday afternoon’s one-sided Nordea Open final between World No. 4 Casper Ruud of Norway and World No. 7 Andrey Rublev of Russia, played on red clay under occasionally drizzly conditions in Bastad, Sweden, provided the setting for the ninth instance of an All-Top 10 Finals – and, surprisingly, the first time at an ATP 250-level event this year.

It was also the fifth time that the top two seeds – in this case No. 1 seed Ruud versus No. 2 seed Rublev – faced each other in a final in 2023. The last time it happened was just a week ago, when No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz defeated No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic in the final of Wimbledon.

However, unlike last week when the top-seeded Alcaraz came out on top in a thrilling five-set epic, this time it was the No. 2 seed Rublev who triumphed in straight sets. The 25-year-old Moscow native played smartly and aggressively from first ball to last, and won his second title of the season (to go along with his Masters 1000 crown at Monte-Carlo last April) and 14th career ATP Tour crown with a 7-6 (3), 6-0 victory over Ruud in an hour and 31 minutes. He denied the 24-year-old popular Norwegian from winning a second Bastad title in three years after lifting the trophy in 2021.

While Rublev, who was appearing in his fifth title match of the season, predicted a “crazy” final to come after his three-set semifinal victory Saturday over defending champion Francisco Cerundolo – the lone set he dropped all week – the only thing that was really crazy was the weather, which threatened to push back the title match to Monday following a steady morning rain.

“I wasn’t really motivated to play today,” Rublev admitted during an on-court interview after his victory. “All the referees said for sure, today you’re not going to play most likely, no chance. From two [p.m.] it’s going to rain pools. Most likely, we’re going to have to move it to tomorrow. I’m thinking, okay, it’s an extra day for me to recover. Then, somehow at 1 p.m, they said it looks like maybe we’re going start at two. I went to lunch.”

Indeed, they played on – on schedule – and the red clay was dragged and the lines wiped off during each change over in order to keep the court playable. While the drizzle caused a pause in the action – albeit briefly – twice in the opening set, at 4-all and, again, at 5-all, it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the sold-out crowd that filled Bastad Tenisstadion. The fans simply put on their rain jackets and popped their umbrellas. The players didn’t seem to mind or complain. They wanted to play and finish the match. After all, both Ruud and Rublev are due in Germany soon for the Hamburg European Open, where they will once again be the top two seeds.

However, the sticky court did cause Ruud to take a nasty tumble during the fourth game of the second set. He lost his footing peddling backwards to set up for a return and fell. Although he got up right away and dusted the red clay off of himself, he wasn’t quite the same afterward. Ruud’s movement was a bit off and his serve was broken three straight times in the final set – and, soon, Rublev took advantage of his opponent’s physical condition while making the most of the court conditions and of what remained in their title tussle.

By the conclusion, Rublev had fired six aces, won 82 percent of his first-serve points, converted four of eight break points and outpointed Ruud 77-55. Although Ruud countered with five aces, he committed three double faults and won just 60 percent of his first-serve points. It was Ruud’s third double fault which ultimately decided match point – and Sunday’s loss kept him from capturing his 10th clay-court title and second in 2023 after winning at Estoril. It also dropped his win-loss record to 10-3 in championship matches staged at the ATP 250 level. Meanwhile, Rublev improved to 4-0 against Ruud on red clay and 5-2 overall.

“Emotions are good,” Rublev said, during the trophy ceremony, in which he collected first-prize earnings of €85,605 plus 250 ATP Rankings Points.

Ruud congratulated Rublev. After all, they are good friends and competitors. “Andrey, you’re a very tough competitor, but also a very nice guy – very funny – always respectful to your opponents. Even though you hit all the lines today,” he said with a wink and a smile. “Not so respectful to me, but it’s okay. Always good battling against you. I always look up to you.”

Escobar and Nedovyesov win first tour-level title together

Gonzalo Escobar of Colombia and Aleksandr Nedovyesov of Kazakhstan won their first ATP Tour-level doubles title as a team in just their fourth event together. On Sunday, the Colombian-Kazakh duo defeated Rafael Matos of Brazil and Francisco Cabral of Portugal, 6-2, 6-2, in just 74 minutes. It was the team’s seventh victory in 10 contests.

The 46th-ranked team of Escobar and Nedovyesov, who did not drop any sets this week en route to winning the title, will split €29,740 in first-prize money and each will receive 250 ATP Rankings points.

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