Ruud saves match point to make Dallas final
Casper Ruud saved himself from being another high-profile exit at the Dallas Open, making it through to the final after a tight 6-2 2-6 7-6 (7-4) semi-final victory against Jaume Munar from Spain, who was serving for the match in the deciding set but couldn't get it done.
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The Norwegian is into his first ATP Tour final since making the Geneva showpiece last year, and the No.2 seed will meet either No.3 seed Tommy Paul or Denis Shapovalov in the final.
Ruud leads Paul 4-2 in their head-to-head series and has won both meetings against the Canadian Shapovalov, but after such a tight test against Munar, he won't be taking anything for granted no matter which opponent he has to face.
"Second and third set, [Jaume] really stepped it up. I was kind of control in the first set, started off really well," Ruud said.
"He kind of fired up, I played a little bit of a poor game. I went for a little too much, the right play but just made unforced errors.
"Some really close games in the third. Typical kind of break-break back to back from 4-4 and him serving for it at 5-4. I know what the feeling is like, you can get tight. You kind of see the finish line a few yards in front of you and then you kind of stumble. I've done it myself and I was fortunate to be on the right side of it today."
Munar had already upset home favourite Ben Shelton in the second round to make it to his second ATP Tour semi-final this season after reaching the last four in Hong Kong.
