Jesper De Jong’s Big Day! The Dutchman has reached the final of the Bastad tournament, winning in straight sets (6-3, 7-6 [3]) against Argentine fifth seed Camilo Ugo Carabelli on Saturday midday at the Båstads Tennisstadion in Bastad.

At 25 years old, Jesper De Jong has qualified for the first ATP final of his career. Thanks to his brilliant week in Sweden, the Dutchman is already guaranteed to return to the Top 100 and will achieve the highest ranking of his career at the end of the tournament.

The world No. 106 started the match better than his opponent, earning the first break to quickly take a 3-0 lead. Jesper De Jong then held his serve solidly, giving no opportunities to the Argentine, and took control of the semifinal.

De Jong awaits Cerundolo or Darderi

The second set was more closely contested, but still a step ahead, De Jong managed a crucial break at 5-5 and served for the match. However, Camilo Ugo Carabelli didn’t give up and scored his only break of the match to level at 6-6 and force a tiebreak.

Under pressure, Jesper De Jong handled the decider perfectly, eventually winning it 7 points to 3 to continue his impressive run in Bastad.

“My coach (Thiemo De Bakker) was a finalist here in 2013, so I’ve gone one better today! I’m super happy to be in the final for the first time in my career. It got a bit tense at the end of the second set, but I managed the tiebreak well,” said Jesper De Jong after his win.



De Jong, ranked No 106, will face the winner of the match between Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo, the top seed, and Italian Luciano Darderi, the No 6 seed, next.

Ahead of his victory, the Dutchman defeated second seed Tallon Griekspoor (4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3), Czech Vit Kopriva, the No 8 seed (7-6 (3), 7-5) and Swede wildcard William Rejchtman Vinciguerra (6-3, 6-2).

Ugo Carabelli, ranked No 59, won against Austrian qualifier Filip Misolic (6-3, 7-5), Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp (7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-3) and Chilean Cristian Garin (6-4, 6-4) earlier in the tournament.

Bastad ATP 250, other semi-final result (Båstads tennisstadion, clay, EUR 596.035):

Francisco Cerundolo vs. Luciano Darderi