Casper Ruud ruthless against Andrey Rublev, sets up final clash with Novak Djokovic in Turin

The third-seeded Norwegian thrashed Rublev in straight sets 6-2 6-4, playing ice cool tennis with consistency and power throughout the encounter, as he converted four of four break points to earn a comfortable victory.

A late surge from Rublev in the second set, during which he recovered from 1-5 to 4-5, proved too little, too late, with his 23 unforced errors the defining statistic of his loss. In contrast, Ruud made just eight, while the Norwegian also hit 20 winners en route to his 51st tour-level victory of the season.

Ruud will be heading into Sunday’s final as the first Scandinavian to contest in a Nitto ATP Finals match since Sweden’s Stefan Edberg in 1990. A win against Djokovic will see him surpass Rafael Nadal to end the year as No.2 in the ATP rankings.

Speaking after his semi-final match against Rublev, Ruud said of Djokovic: “He’s a player that doesn’t have many weaknesses at all, but he’s human. He’s had a great year… But he is human. He lost two weeks ago to Rune in the [Rolex Paris Masters] final.

“It’s not like he plays these finals every day of his career in his life. I’m sure he will also feel a little bit of pressure. There’s a lot on the line. [In the Pepperstone ATP Rankings], I may be ahead of him, but I feel like the underdog. He has won this tournament five times and I’ve seen them all on TV, how great he has played.”

No matter the outcome of the match on Sunday night, the 23-year old can be proud of his achievements this year after reaching two Grand Slam finals (French Open and US Open), Masters 1000 Final, and now the Nitto ATP Finals.