Casper Ruud moved through to his first Mutua Madrid Open final on Friday, holding off giant-killer Francisco Cerundolo in the semifinals of the Masters 1000 event, 6-4, 7-5.
And with that, he’ll make a notable ranking move—having dropped from No. 10 to No. 15 last week, his first time outside the Top 10 in more than a year, he’ll now bounce right back into the elite, rising from No. 15 to No. 10 just by reaching the final.
He could move even higher with a title, to No. 7 or No. 8.
The Norwegian is also a win away from his biggest title—he’s won 12 ATP titles, but all at the ATP 250 or ATP 500 level.
This will be his seventh final at one of the tour’s “big” events.