Ruud, Alcaraz down Cerundolo, Hurkacz to advance to men's final at Miami Open

No. 6 seed Casper Ruud earned the first spot in the Miami Open title match by defeating Francisco Cerundolo 6-4, 6-1 in Friday's semifinals.

"It was a tough match, even though the scoreline said two straight sets," said Ruud, who will be playing in a Masters 1000-level final for the first time. "It was tough."

Ruud will face No. 14 Carlos Alcaraz in the men's title match on Sunday. Alcaraz defeated No. 8 seed Hubert Hurkacz — the defending Miami champion — 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2) on Friday night in the last semifinal.

Rafael Nadal was about a month younger than Alcaraz is now when he made the Miami final; the tournament was called the NASDAQ-100 Open then and was played at Key Biscayne.

Nadal lost a five-setter in the final that year to Roger Federer.