Bastad 2023: Casper Ruud vs Lorenzo Musetti preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds, and pick | Swedish Open
Match Details
Fixture: (1) Casper Ruud vs (3) Lorenzo Musetti
Date: July 22, 2023
Tournament: Swedish Open 2023
Round: Semifinal
Venue: Bastad, Sweden
Category: ATP 250
Surface: Clay
Prize money: €562,815
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | Australia - beIN Sport | Canada - TSN
Casper Ruud vs Lorenzo Musetti preview
Three-time Major finalist Casper Ruud will take on World No. 16 Lorenzo Musetti in the semifinals of the 2023 Swedish Open on Saturday.
Ruud scored a straight-sets victory over Alexander Shevchenko to sail into the quarterfinals, where Sebastian Ofner awaited him. The Norwegian overcame some troubles on his own service games to secure a single break of serve in the first set to go 5-2 up.
Ruud held on to the lead and wrapped up the set soon after that. He snagged an early break of serve to put himself in the front in the second set as well. The 24-year-old never looked back after that as he went on to win the match 6-3, 6-4.
Musetti, meanwhile, overcame compatriot Matteo Arnaldi in three sets to make the last eight. He was up against Filip Misolic for a place in the semifinals. The Italian didn't capitalize on his own break point chances in the first set, which proved to be costly. He dropped his own serve once, which was enough for him to lose the set.
Musetti responded by claiming the second set in a decisive manner as he dropped just one game in it. He continued to dictate the play in the third set as well, breaking Misolic's serve twice to complete a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 comeback win.
Casper Ruud vs Lorenzo Musetti head-to-head
Musetti leads Ruud 1-0 in the head-to-head. He won their previous encounter at the 2022 Paris Masters in three sets.
Casper Ruud vs Lorenzo Musetti odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Casper Ruud vs Lorenzo Musetti prediction
Musetti once again needed three sets to win his match this week. While his serve helped him out quite a bit in the last round, he also went 4/16 on break points. He'll need to be more clutch in the next round against Ruud or things could be spiral out of control quickly.
Ruud, on the other hand, has made his way through the draw with ease. He didn't drop his serve even once in the previous round. He remained in charge of the proceedings from start to finish. Even when he faced some resistance from Ofner, the Norwegian was able to rise to the occasion to deal with the challenge.
Both are quite at home on clay, but the 2023 French Open finalist seems to be the more focused of the two this week. Musetti's shotmaking will be put to the test against the Ruud's consistency. This match could go down to the wire, with the Norwegian being the slight favorite to get over the finish line.
Pick: Casper Ruud to win in three sets.