ATP Bastad 2021: Casper Ruud vs Roberto Carballes Baena Preview, Head to Head and Prediction

Casper Ruud vs Roberto Carballes Baena
In the semi-finals of the ATP Bastad 2021, World No. 16 and the top-seeded Casper Ruud will be up against World No. 97 Roberto Carballes Baena.
Casper Ruud vs Roberto Carballes Baena : Match Details
Tournament | Nordea Open 2021 |
Match | Casper Ruud vs Roberto Carballes Baena |
Round | Semi-Finals |
Date | 17 July 2021 |
Prize Money | $24,839 |
Venue | Bastad, Sweden |
Surface | Clay Court |
Casper Ruud vs Roberto Carballes Baena : Preview

Casper Ruud continues his fine form on Clay as he reaches yet another semi-final on the surface. Ruud, who received a bye in the first-round of the tournament, won his 2nd round clash against Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune in straight-sets to move into the quarter-finals.
He was set to play Swiss Henri Laaksonen in the last-8 but received a walkover from Henri that sent Casper into his 5th semi-final of the season and also his 5th on Clay this season.
Roberto Carballes Baena makes it to his first semi-final of an ATP tournament this season as he defeats Slovakian Norbert Gombos in straight-sets. This was his 2nd straight-set victory this week in Bastad after having won the 2nd round clash in 3-sets to move into the quarter-finals where he met Norbert.
While Roberto did manage to reach a few quarter-finals on the Challenger levels, he had little success in winning them, winning only one of those matches during title-winning run at the 2021 Belgrade Challenger.
Casper Ruud vs Roberto Carballes Baena : Head to Head

This will be their 3rd meeting on the tour and also their 3rd Clay meeting. The duo also met twice at Challenger tournaments where both won a match each. However, on the ATP level, Casper has been the victorious one winning both their matches and leads the head-to-head tie 2-0.
Casper Ruud vs Roberto Carballes Baena : Prediction

Baena will take the court with a career Clay record of 405-245 and a season record of 26-19 which has his Clay record of 23-15 inclusive of his matches at the Challenger level. Ruud will come into the clash with a career Clay record of 155-80 and an overall season record of 25-9 which includes his impressive 18-5 record on Clay this season.
Looking at these numbers and the form Casper has been in, he seems the favourite for this semi-final clash and advance into his 2nd final of the season after winning the title at the 2021 Geneva Open.
Prediction: Casper Ruud to win in straight-sets.
Also Read: ATP Bastad 2021: Men’s Singles Draw Preview, Analysis and Predictions for Nordea Open