RUUD AND NORRIE TO MEET IN SAN DIEGO OPEN ATP Tennis FINAL • All Draws • Order Of play

By: Thomas Cluck  A thrilling semifinal Saturday at the San Diego Open brings way to championship Sunday at the ATP Tour 250 event with two fresh and compelling young stars set to contest the final with the tournament’s championship on the line tomorrow. A capacity crowd of 2,000 at Barnes Stadium saw a thrilling upset in the first match of the day as top seed Andrey Rublev went down to the left-handed Brit Cameron Norrie who’s enjoying the week of his life, reeling off his third consecutive win over a seed here in San Diego. The giant-slayer of the week raised the level of his game against Rublev, the number five player in the world, recovering after dropping the first set to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. “All credit to Andrey, he came out firing. He played some big tennis at the beginning and I managed to weather the storm at the start of the second,” assessed Norrie. “It’s such a big win for me. It’s definitely a match that I’m going to remember for a long time. It’s nice to get some revenge. He beat me easily last time, so it’s good to see I’ve improved a little bit,” Norrie said. Norrie, born in South Africa, is a former NCAA men’s tennis player, having played for the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs. Earlier this week Norrie defeated his compatriot Dan Evans, the top-ranked British man, before eliminating Denis Shapovalov yesterday. With his fierce competitive and his counter-punching style, he added Rublev’s name to that list Saturday afternoon. The Brit has enjoyed a memorable 2021 season, winning his first and only ATP Tour title earlier this year in Los Cabos in addition to three other finals at the Queens Club, Estoril, and Lyon. It’s been a long time coming for Norrie who made his first final in January 2019 in Auckland and will look to add another title to his trophy case Sunday. “I’m just trying to enjoy today and then I’ll try to rest up and get ready for the final,” said Norrie. “I’m looking forward to that one tomorrow.” Norrie’s opponent in Sunday’s final will be number two seed Casper Ruud of Norway who held off Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to reach the first ATP final of his career on a hard court. Ruud, the 10th ranked player in the world, has won four titles this year- all on clay- winning in Bastad, Geneva, Gstaad, and Kitzbuhel, but tomorrow’s final will provide the chance the Norwegian has looked for to cement himself as a force beyond just the dirt.

“Playing Grigor you have to play well from all corners of the court and run well as he can hit winners from everywhere. He’s one of the toughest guys to play on tour as he has all the shots in the bag,” Ruud said post-match.

“I tried to hang in there and I won the important points that in the end gave me the win. It was a high level from the first point to the last. I’m happy to be in my first hard court final,” Ruud added.

Ruud’s chances for his first career hard court title and the San Diego Open championship will headline what should be a thrilling final day of the tournament at Barnes Tennis Center.

The doubles final will pit top-seeded Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski of Great Britain against the third seeds John Peers of Australia and Filip Polasek of Slovakia.

2021 SAN DIEGO OPEN ATP 250 SATURDAY’S RESULTS – OCTOBER 02, 2021 Men’s Singles Semifinals C. Norrie (GBR) d [1] A. Rublev (RUS) 36 63 64 [2] C. Ruud (NOR) d G. Dimitrov (BUL) 64 46 64 Men’s Doubles Semifinals [1] J. Salisbury (GBR) / N. Skupski (GBR) d J. Thompson (AUS) / J. Withrow (USA) 64 76(3) [3] J. Peers (AUS) / F. Polasek (SVK) d M. Arevalo (ESA) / F. Delbonis (ARG) 62 61 ORDER OF PLAY — SUNDAY, OCTOBER 03, 2021 BARNES STADIUM start 2:00 pm [1] J. Salisbury (GBR) / N. Skupski (GBR) vs [3] J. Peers (AUS) / F. Polasek (SVK) Not Before 4:00 pm C. Norrie (GBR) vs [2] C. Ruud (NOR)