Preview 2023 Bastad Open: European Clay Court season begins as Ruud, Rublev, Zverev and Musetti headline field
ATPSunday, 16 July 2023 at 19:30
The European Clay Court season continues between July 17-23 with the Bastad Open (Nordea Open) taking place in Sweden.
As ever, TennisUpToDate will preview the tournament with Andrey Rublev, Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev among the headliners.
Ruud ends Weeknd tour to return to favoured surface
Being dumped out of Wimbledon by Liam Broady in one of only a few moments of solace for Brit hopes, Casper Ruud decided to spend pre Wimbledon watching The Weeknd and playing golf.
A novel tactic with Ruud saying himself that most of it was on artificial grass so it counted, but unlike Novak Djokovic who never has grass court warm-ups. It did not pay off.
He then went to see the singer again in London with Caty McNally and Coco Gauff (McCoco) also in attendance together before withdrawing from the doubles the following day.
But hold up, it is a time of the season that Ruud prefers with European Clay Court seeing some of his best wins and being in Scandinavia, it will be closer to home. Which will either mean an early exit or a good run.
But he will headline this next week aiming to begin his US Open preparation.... with another title on clay.
Zverev and Rublev also involved, Cerundolo defending champion
Also among those involved include Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev. The former lost to a resurgent Matteo Berrettini as his quest to return to form continued but also hit a small stumbling block.
While for Rublev, there was not a lot he could do as he came up against the favourite at the time for the Wimbledon title in Novak Djokovic.
Albeit the Russian took sets off him and goes into the clay court portion looking to continue that form albeit on a different surface.
Lorenzo Musetti usually excels on clay and he is involved as is Francisco Cerundolo who is the defending champion from a year ago. All set for the first week of European Clay.
Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.
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