Ruud reaches first Masters 1000 final with victory in Miami

World No 8 Casper Ruud is into his maiden ATP Masters 1000 final following a straight-sets win over Francisco Cerundolo at the Miami Open.

Norway's Ruud - who will face either Poland's Hubert Hurkacz or Spain's Carlos Alcaraz in the final - beat Argentina's Cerundolo 6-4 6-1.

Ruud reached Masters 1000 semi-finals in Rome in 2020 and in Monte Carlo and Madrid in 2021 but then lost to Novak Djokovic, Andrey Rublev and Matteo Berrettini respectively.

The 23-year-old converted a late break point to win the opening set against world No 103 Cerundolo on Friday before saving four break points early in the second set and then easing to victory thereafter.

Ruud had recorded a three-set win over world No 4 Alexander Zverez in the quarter-finals, while he saw off Britain's Cameron Norrie in straight sets in the fourth round.

The Oslo-born player is now one victory away from his second title of 2022, having won the Argentina Open back in February.

Cerundolo is projected to rise to 51st in the world when the new rankings are released next week.

The Argentine's run to the last four in Miami had been aided by Reilly Opelka and Jannik Sinner retiring in their matches with him due to injury but he did pick up the notable scalp of Gael Monfils.