Wimbledon quarter-finalist Andrey Rublev added to his spring Monte Carlo title by winning a second this season on clay, upsetting top seed Casper Ruud 7-6(3), 6-0 to win the ATP Bastad title.
Rublev needed 93 minutes to produce success against the Norwegian who considers the Swedish resort town a little slice of Scandinavian heaven
The winner needed just one match point to complete his finals victory, winning his fifth match from seven against his Norse rival.
“It’s always great to win a title. We have to lose almost every week,” Rublev said..
“This is one of (my) two titles this year. It’s a special feeling.
Rublev broke his off-the-boil opponent on four of eight chances as Ruud failed to duplicate the 250-level clay title he won a year ago this week in Gstaad.
“Casper hits with spin a lot, to play high and with this (hot) weather the ball did not really jump high and I think it helped me a bit,” Rublev said.
“On top of that I played really well today.”
Rublev now owns 18 clay victories this season and now heads to Hamburg as a wild card entry,
Ruud won the Bastad title two years ago.
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