GLASGOW, September 21, 2019
Emil Ruusuvuori continues his good run of form by reaching the singles final of the Murray Trophy. The No. 4 seed from Finland, who has clinched two titles on the ATP Challenger Tour this season and upset Dominic Thiem in last weekend’s Davis Cup Play-off tie, defeated 17th favourite Jurij Rodionov from Austria 6-1, 6-3 in the battle of the Next Gen players on Sunday in Glasgow.
🚨 Tweener! 🚨
Jurij Rodionov turns in the shot of the week at the #MurrayTrophy in Glasgow. pic.twitter.com/5DF7xVxVpB
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) September 21, 2019
Twenty-year-old Ruusuvuori saved both break points he faced and capitalized on four of his own five chances to advance in only 58 minutes. The World No. 165 from Helsinki will take on first-time finalist Alexandre Muller of France in Sunday’s championship match. The 22-year-old Poissy native fought past No. 5 seed Ramkumar Ramathan of India 7-5, 1-6, 6-4. Muller withstood 10 aces and broke his opponent’s serve five times to seal victory in two hours and five minutes.
Ruusuvuori and Muller will meet for the first time. The winner of the €46,600 hard-court event will receive €6,190 in prize money as well as 80 ATP Ranking points.
Later on Saturday, top seeds Jamie Murray from Great Britain and Aussie John-Patrick Smith booked their spot in the doubles final with a comfortable 6-2, 6-3 win over Marek Gengel from the Czech Republic and Ramkumar Ramanthan. The pair will take on Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium and Germany’s Daniel Masur to open Sunday’s action.
