Casper Ruud of Norway answers questions during a press conference after the Men's Singles Semifinals match against Jaume Munar of Spain during day six of the 2025 Dallas Open at The Ford Center at The Star on February 08, 2025 in Frisco. AFP
World number five Ruud advanced to face the winner of a later semi-final between third-seeded defending champion Tommy Paul of the United States and Canada's Denis Shapovalov, who ousted fourth-ranked American Taylor Fritz in the second round.
Munar served for the match in the 10th game of the final set but Ruud broke back level to 5-5 as they battled into a tie-breaker.
Ruud hit a backhand down-the-line winner to grab a 4-2 tie-breaker lead, took a 5-3 edge when Munar was wide with a backhand volley and went to 6-3 on an overhead smash.
Two points later, the Spaniard netted a forehand to hand Ruud the victory after two and a half hours, falling to 1-4 all-time against the Norwegian.
Ruud seeks his 13th career ATP title and a third consecutive finals win after triumphs last year at Barcelona and Geneva.
Ninth-ranked Paul, in his first ATP event as a top-10 player, seeks an eighth ATP final and fifth tour title following Queen's and a second Stockholm Open crown last year.
Shapovalov seeks his eighth ATP final and a third ATP title after Stockholm in 2019 and last November's Belgrade Open.
(For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
Short link: