Casper Ruud defeated ailing second seed Holger Rune 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Friday to advance to the Mexican Open final, where he will face defending champion Alex de Minaur. De Minaur had previously returned to the title match after Briton Jack Draper retired from their semi-final meeting with an undisclosed issue while trailing 6-3 2-6 4-0.
It will be Ruud’s second final in the country in as many weeks, but he will be hoping for a better outcome on Saturday after losing in Los Cabos to another Australian, Jordan Thompson.
Rune, the world number seven, pushed the Norwegian to his limits in physically demanding conditions in Acapulco.
Rune came out strong and took the first set. He was a point away from a break in the third game of the next set, finishing a long rally with a forehand winner at the net, but the Dane quickly lost momentum.
The 20-year-old eventually squandered the opportunity, as sixth-seeded Ruud rallied and leveled at one set apiece, switching to a more aggressive style of play.
“It was a tough start; Holger came out firing bullets with his forehand and backhand. “I didn’t have much time to play my game and was frustrated at times,” Ruud explained.
“Luckily with a break in the second, it turned around a bit.”
Ruud, who had beaten the Scandinavian five out of six times on clay, saw an opportunity to extend his lead over Rune, who appeared weakened by illness and required medication before the start of the third set.
But Rune drew huge cheers from the crowd when he broke for a 3-1 lead with an incredible forehand return from deep after Ruud thought he had won the point with an overhead smash.
Ruud clawed his way back and led 5-4 after a cramping Rune wobbled with a couple of double faults before the world number 11 sealed the match on serve.
“In the third set, it became a little physical, and Holger appeared to be struggling… “He broke me, which is frustrating, but you try to get balls back in and make him run and fight for points,” Ruud explained.
“Fortunately, I was able to accomplish that. Some unforced errors crept up on him, and I served well in the final game to seal it.”
