GENEVA — Canada's Denis Shapovalov lost to Casper Ruud of Norway in Saturday's final of the Geneva Open.

The third-seeded Ruud beat the No. 2 seed from Richmond Hill, Ont., by scores of 7-6(6), 6-4.

While the 22-year-old players knew each other well from facing off in the junior ranks, Saturday was the first time Shapovalov and Ruud had battled at the top level.

Shapovalov advanced after beating qualifier Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay 6-4, 7-5 in semifinal action at the ATP Tour 250 clay-court event on Friday.

Canadians are on an eight-match losing streak in ATP Tour finals and are 1-17 in finals since Milos Raonic won in Brisbane in 2016. The only win in that stretch was Shapovalov in Stockholm in 2019.

Ruud beat Spain's Pablo Andujar 6-3, 6-2 in the other Geneva semifinal. He leads all players on clay with 31 wins since start of 2020.

Ruud continues to ride a wave of momentum, having reached the semifinals at his past three events, and quarterfinals in two tournament before that. He beat Spain's Pablo Andujar 6-3, 6-2 in the other Geneva semifinal.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 22, 2021.