BASTAD, July 17, 2021
Top seed Casper Ruud and in-form Argentine Federico Coria will compete in Sunday’s singles final of the 2021 Nordea Open in Bastad, Sweden.The World No. 16 from Norway beat Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday afternoon.
Ruud, who lifted the Gonet Geneva Open title in Switzerland in May, was the dominant player. He won 76 per cent of his first-service points and broke five times to advance in 79 minutes.
Top performance from the top seed! 💪🇳🇴@CasperRuud98 through to his first final in Bastad with a 6-1 6-4 win over Carballes Baena at the #NordeaOpen pic.twitter.com/kytkVnQdbW
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) July 17, 2021
“I played a very good first set, I am very happy,” Ruud said. “[The second set] was a bit back and forth, I started to get a bit nervous towards the end. I started to play the points to quickly and didn’t play my game. That is natural when you are feeling the nerves.
“I am looking forward to the final. It is my fifth final of my career, and I am looking to make it three titles and my second one this year. I hope we can have some Scandinavian cheering.”
Coria into first final
Earlier in the day, Coria eased past Yannick Hanfmann from Germany 6-2, 6-1. The 29-year-old from Buenos Aires didn’t face a break point and capitalized on two of his own four break-point opportunities to reach his maiden ATP Tour final in one hour and 11 minutes.
Google Translate is everyone’s best friend 😎@fedeecoria #NordeaOpen pic.twitter.com/hOJqEBLefn
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) July 17, 2021
“I am very happy. It is my first final tomorrow,” said Coria, who finished runner-up to compatriot Facundo Bagnis at last week’s Salzburg Open ATP Challenger. “I played the best tennis of my life today here in Bastad. It is amazing [here]. It is beautiful.”
Coria won both of the two previous meetings with Ruud in Montevideo, Uruguay in 2017 and in Cordoba, Argentina two years ago.
