Casper Ruud cruises against Federico Coria to book Buenos Aires semifinals spot

WATCH: Casper Ruud speaks to the media after his second-round win at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires.

Top seed Casper Ruud extended his clay-court winning streak to 13 matches in a row after taking out home favorite Federico Coria 6-3, 6-4 on his way to the Argentina Open semifinals.

The former Buenos Aires champion had a rough start to the season after turning his ankle during a pre-Australian Open practice session, ruling him out of the year’s first Grand Slam tournament. In his first match since January, Ruud shook off the rust and scored a straight-sets win over Roberto Carballes Baena to kick off his campaign at the ATP 250 event.

Half of the Argentina Open’s quarterfinal field hails from the host country, and Ruud found himself up against the full might of the partisan crowd on Court Guillermo Vilas. Ruud’s opponent, Coria, was into this stage at his home tournament for the first time after toppling No. 5 seed Dusan Lajovic.

But the 2020 champion never allowed Coria an opening, as he saved all five break points he faced across both sets and won 81% of points behind his first serve. Coria wasn’t able to capitalize on his opportunities, and Ruud closed out the comfortable victory in an hour and 34 minutes.

“It was very difficult with the weather,” Ruud said of the gusty conditions on Friday. “It was not typical weather for Buenos Aires but more like Norwegian weather. On days like this, it is not easy to find your perfect game, so you have to play point by point, building the points. I think I was able to do that well and I am very happy to come through.”

The victory extends Ruud’s impressive clay-court winning streak to 13 in a row, and he’s now won 20 of his last 21 matches on the surface.

He’ll be aiming to add to those numbers as he faces another Argentine, No. 6 seed Federico Delbonis, for a spot in the championship match. Ruud and Delbonis are level at one win apiece in their career head-to-head, with both matches taking place on clay.

Delbonis, who knocked out Argentina’s beloved Juan Martin del Potro—and possibly sent the US Open champion into retirement—fought past No. 4 seed Fabio Fognini in straight sets to advance. The Argentine broke Fognini at the start of each set on his way to 6-4, 6-4 win.

Argentina is already guaranteed a second semifinalist, as No. 2 seed Diego Schwartzman takes the court later this evening against Francisco Cerundolo hoping to join Delbonis in the last four. The match, which is a repeat of last year’s Buenos Aires championship clash, will close out the night after No. 3 seed Lorenzo Sonego takes on Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco on Court Guillermo Vilas.