Rublev Crushes Baez to Storm into Bastad Semi-Finals

A champion back in his element

Top seed Andrey Rublev delivered the most dominant performance of his week at the Nordea Open on Friday, dismantling Sebastian Baez 6-1, 6-2 in a one-sided quarter-final to advance to the Bastad semi-finals with ease. The Russian, who lifted the title at this tournament in 2023, barely allowed the Argentine a foothold across either set, controlling every phase of the match from the first game to the last.

Baez arrived at the court having edged past Jesper De Jong in the previous round, but he found no answers to Rublev's relentless baseline game on the red clay of the Bastad Tennisstadion. The top seed's heavy forehand topspin forced repeated errors, while his ability to redirect pace and dictate the pace of rallies left the Argentine scrambling throughout. Three games across the entire match was a damning reflection of the gulf in level on the day.

A sharp gear change after a testing week

The emphatic margin of victory is all the more impressive given the work Rublev had to do in his second-round encounter with Andrea Pellegrino. That match stretched to three sets — 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 — and required Rublev to dig deep before eventually closing it out in the deciding set. Friday brought no such drama. From the opening game, the Russian executed with the kind of clean, assertive tennis that has made him one of the best clay-court players in the world in recent seasons.

Rublev has always felt at home in Bastad. The conditions — slow red clay, relatively heavy balls, and a playing environment that rewards heavy topspin — align perfectly with his game. His 2023 title here remains one of the defining moments of his recent career, and he has entered the semi-finals having dropped just one set all week, demonstrating both his physical condition and his mental clarity.

Semi-final line-up set

Rublev will face Alejandro Tabilo in Saturday's semi-final after the Chilean advanced from the other quarter-final when Thiago Agustín Tirante withdrew injured. Tabilo enters extra-rested, but Rublev's momentum heading into the match is considerable — the Russian has lost just one set all week and is playing with the composure of a player who knows how to win on this court.

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The other semi-final has its own compelling storyline. David Vallejo — a Paraguayan player making history as the first from his country to reach an ATP semi-final in roughly 24 years — faces defending champion Luciano Darderi. The Italian title-holder reached the last four in fine fashion, dispatching Nuno Borges 7-6, 6-4 to remind the field that he knows exactly how to win in Bastad.

Rublev enters his semi-final as the clear favourite. His ranking advantage over Tabilo is substantial, and the form he has shown throughout the week — measured in the early rounds, explosive against Baez — makes him the standout player remaining in the draw. A second Bastad title, and what would be a first ATP crown of his 2026 season, is now firmly in sight.

The semi-finals at the Nordea Open are scheduled for Saturday at the Bastad Tennisstadion.