Dwane Casey has stepped down as Detroit Pistons head coach and will take up a new front office role.
Casey announced after the Pistons' final game of the season on Sunday, which ended in a 103-81 defeat to the Chicago Bulls, that he would not be staying on as head coach.
Detroit ended the season with the worst record in the NBA of 17-65.
Casey will remain with the franchise, but there will be a new head coach next season.
"This is my last game," Casey said. "I'm moving to the front office.
"I'm excited to go to the next phase of my life. Time to spend more time with my family. This team is on the right track. They probably need to hear a new voice. This is my decision.”
Milwaukee Bucks assistant Charles Lee and former Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka are reportedly expected to be among the candidates to replace the 65-year-old.
Casey took over as Pistons head coach in 2018 and ends his tenure with a record of 128-262.
World number five Ons Jabeur secured her first title of the season on Sunday with a 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 victory over Belinda Bencic in the Charleston Open final.
Jabeur, 28, enjoyed the best campaign of her career in 2022 as she reached the finals of Wimbledon and the US Open, but she was sidelined due to knee trouble following this year's Australian Open.
The Tunisian returned with early exits at both the Indian Wells Open and Miami Open, meaning she came into Charleston without consecutive wins since early January.
But she looked right back to her best at the WTA 500 event, not dropping a set the entire tournament.
After beating Lesia Tsurenko, Caroline Dolehide, Anna Kalinskaya and Daria Kasatkina to reach the final, Jabeur had to respond to early adversity against Bencic as the Swiss secured a break in the opening game of the first set.
Down 5-4 in the opener, Jabeur broke back at the last opportunity to keep the set alive, and after falling 6-4 behind in the tie-break she rattled off the next four points in a row to steal it.
The second set was all about making the most of her chances, as Jabeur only had three break-point chances compared to Bencic's five, but she was able to convert all three while Bencic could only snag two.
The final was a rematch from last year's Charleston Open title match, where Bencic prevailed over Jabeur in three sets, and it is Jabeur's first title since the German Open in June, where she again had to overcome Bencic in the final.
Jabeur now leads their head-to-head 3-2 in matches played at WTA Tour level.
Anthony Joshua has revealed his next fight will not be until December.
Joshua had not stepped into the ring for over seven months before returning to beat Jermaine Franklin via a unanimous decision at London's O2 Arena on April 1.
The two-time world heavyweight champion stated that he wanted to fight again in the next three months in order to "get the ball rolling."
Yet Joshua on Sunday stated that his next challenge will not be until the end of this year.
He wrote in an Instagram story: "My next fight is scheduled for December. Not ideal but everything is part of a bigger picture."
There has been talk of Joshua doing battle with either Dillian Whyte or Tyson Fury after he got the better of American Franklin.
The Brit lost his world titles to Oleksandr Usyk at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September 2021 and lost his rematch with the Ukrainian In Jeddah last August.
Stephen Silas’ reign as Houston Rockets head coach is reported to have come to an end.
ESPN on Sunday reported that the Rockets have opted against taking up a fourth-year option on Silas' contract.
The 49-year-old took his first head coach role with Houston in October 2020, taking on the task of rebuilding the franchise.
Houston finished bottom of the Western Conference in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.
A 114-109 over the Washington Wizards ensured the Rockets ended the 2022-23 campaign with three consecutive victories, second-bottom behind the San Antonio Spurs with a 22-60 record.
It appears that victory will be the Rockets' last game with Silas in charge.
Jamaica’s Formula Woman driver, Sara Misir, looks forward to raising the roof on Monday at the Dover Raceway as roofing company, Spectrum Systems, announced sponsorship for her 2023 motorsports season.
The significant sponsorship deal from Spectrum Systems will support Misir for the duration of the local racing calendar.
Misir, the 2022 Jamaica Race Drivers Club (JRDC) Champion in the MP3 & TS1 classes, will open her season at the JRDC’s Carnival of Speed at the Dover Raceway on Easter Monday. Misir will take on a new challenge as she moves up a class to the MP4 category to face the 2022 Champion, veteran Doug “Hollywood” Gore.
Misir looks forward to the challenge.
“I dominated the MP3 class last season, so I wanted to take on a new challenge this year. The MP4 class has been dominated by “the beast”, Doug Gore, but look out for ‘the beauty’ this year!” joked Misir.
Meanwhile, CEO of Spectrum Systems Limited, Andrew Stanigar is backing Misir to succeed.
“Spectrum Systems, Jamaica’s number-one roofing company, is pleased to sponsor Jamaica’s number-one female race car driver,” he said.
“We see how much she has dedicated to the race track in 2022 for Formula Woman, the GT Cup Championships and in the JRDC series and we wish her all the best as she takes on the MP4 class.”
Head of Leep Marketing and manager to Sara Misir, Tanya Lee Perkins, said sponsorship support for athletes can be critical to their success.
“We are thankful to Spectrum Systems for joining her sponsor pool for 2023. Sponsorships encourage athletic performance and signals that corporate Jamaica is behind our sports women and men and believe in their talent and ability to inspire,” she said.
Misir is the RJR Sports Foundation Motosports Athlete of the Year in the female category.
In 2022. Spectrum System also sponsored Jamaica's all-female shooting team, the Super Six shooters, that placed third at the Pan American Handgun Championships.
Casper Ruud clinched his 10th career ATP title with a straight-sets victory over Miomir Kecmanovic in Sunday's Estoril Open final, while Roberto Carballes Baena won the Grand Prix Hassan II.
Having enjoyed the best season of his career in 2022, Ruud was bidding for his first trophy success of 2023 in Portugal, and the world number five made a flying start to his clash with Kecmanovic.
Ruud wrapped up the opener in just 36 minutes, taking control with a huge forehand winner to break in just the third game.
The Norwegian navigated two three-set contests in order to reach the showpiece, and it looked like another of his matches may go the distance when Kecmanovic recovered to force a second-set tie-break.
However, a dipping backhand saw Ruud secure the second of two crucial mini breaks, and he took the first of his three championship points to cap a fine week with silverware, sealing a 6-2 7-6 (7-3) win.
Elsewhere, Carballes Baena won just his second career title, triumphing on the clay in Marrakesh where he beat Alexandre Muller 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-2.
France's Muller showed no signs of being overawed on his first final outing as he took the opener in impressive fashion, but Carballes Baena edged a tie-break in the second before dominating the decider.
Carballes Baena's triumph – recorded in just under three hours – gave him his first title since the 2018 Ecuador Open, which also came on his favoured clay surface.
Brooks Koepka carried a two-shot lead into the final 18 holes of the Masters after the third round was completed before lunch on Sunday in Augusta.
An early start, made necessary after torrential rain curtailed play on Saturday, meant there was plenty to play for before the players set out on their final circuit of the Georgia course.
Koepka fell back from an overnight 13 under par to 11 under, while nearest rival Jon Rahm reached the 54-hole mark on nine under, with both men signing for rounds of 73. Viktor Hovland was one shot further back in third place after a two-under 70.
The prospect of a LIV Golf player landing the Green Jacket therefore remained a strong possibility, with Koepka among the players widely characterised as rebels for defecting to the Saudi Arabia-backed tour.
LIV CEO Greg Norman spoke before the tournament of the prospect of players from the breakaway circuit mobbing the winner on the 18th green in the final round if he came from within their ranks, rather than from the PGA Tour or elsewhere.
Koepka was on the seventh hole in round three when play was suspended on Saturday afternoon, and at that stage he held a four-shot lead. That dominance was reined in when the action resumed.
Rahm closed to just one behind, 11 under to Koepka's 12 under, by the time the leaders reached the 13th tee, but a bogey six from the Spaniard there knocked him back one shot.
Hovland improved to eight under with five birdies in a row from the 11th, moving ahead of Patrick Cantlay who was early into the clubhouse on six under after a 68.
At 15, Koepka saw his ball roll back off the green and towards water, only to hold up on the damp grass.
That spot of good fortune would be followed by Koepka stretching his lead to three at the short 16th when Rahm sprayed his tee shot the wrong side of a greenside bunker. The world number three could not stop his chip close enough to the hole, missing the putt back.
Koepka's first three-putt of the tournament followed at the 17th, where a par from Rahm cut the deficit back to two, and both men parred the last to set up a titanic battle for glory in the afternoon, scrapping against each other with the backdrop of it being a LIV Golf versus PGA Tour head-to-head.
Twice a winner of the US PGA Championship, and twice a U.S. Open champion, Koepka was bidding to become the 20th golfer to reach five men's major triumphs.
Rahm is also a former U.S. Open winner, while Hovland has yet to win a major.
The final day's play from Augusta did not feature Tiger Woods, as the 15-time major winner and five-time Masters champion withdrew due to injury, having toiled his way to nine over, limping as he struggled in the rain on Saturday.
Tiger Woods has withdrawn from The Masters because of injury.
The 15-time major champion, a five-time winner at Augusta National, was limping heavily as he struggled mightily on Saturday amid torrential rain in Georgia.
Woods was six over par after seven holes of the third round, leaving him nine over and last of the players who made the cut.
He made the cut for a record-tying 23rd straight time at The Masters, having been three over after the first two rounds.
But he will go no further in the tournament, with his struggles and subsequent withdrawal likely to raise further questions about his ability to compete at the highest level.
Woods, who has long since battled back problems, is playing a significantly reduced schedule after undergoing surgery on a fractured leg and shattered ankle suffered in a car crash in February 2021.
The only other event he has played in 2023 was the Genesis Invitational, with Woods finishing tied 45th at Riviera in February.
Charles Leclerc has asked supporters to respect his privacy and stop turning up at his house.
The Ferrari driver, who had his watch stolen in Italy last year, is unsure how details of his home address in Monaco became public.
While more than willing to greet supporters elsewhere, Leclerc draws a line at them appearing on his property.
"For the past few months, my home address has somehow become public, leading to people gathering beneath my apartment, ringing my bell, and asking for pictures and autographs," Leclerc wrote on Instagram.
"While I'm always happy to be there for you and I truly appreciate your support, please respect my privacy and refrain from coming to my house.
"I'll make sure to stop for everyone when you see me on the streets or at the track, but I won't be coming downstairs if you visit my home.
"Your support, both in person and on social media, means the world to me, but there is a boundary that should not be crossed."
Leclerc has suffered two DNFs in the first three races of the 2023 season and has just six points to his name.
Speaking after last week's Australian Grand Prix, Leclerc said: "[It is] just extremely frustrating. I mean, it's the worst start to the season ever, really. It is really frustrating."
Israel Adesanya exacted some revenge on Alex Pereira with a brutal second-round knockout victory in Saturday's UFC 287 main event in Miami.
Adesanya floored the Brazilian at 4:21 in the second round in their middleweight fight, having come into the contest 0-3 against Pereira in their previous kickboxing and MMA bouts. Among those losses was a fifth-round TKO at UFC 281.
Pereira started well with Adesanya up against the cage, but the Nigerian responded emphatically, countering with some massive right-hand hits.
The Brazilian was hurt but finally put down by Adesanya with a left hook, before pummelling him with a hammer fist leading to referee Dan Miragliotta's intervention with Pereira unconscious.
"They say revenge is sweet," Adesanya said. "If you know me I've got a sweet tooth... you already know, this is f***ing sweet."
Adesanya, who said he was "playing possum" with Pereira early, was delighted to re-claim the middleweight belt.
"Alex is a great champion no matter what," Adesanya said. "He lost the belt tonight, but he’ll always be the champion. In his story I’m the antagonist, in his story I’m the bad guy but tonight it’s my story. History.
"I told you the hunter is now the hunted. Thank you for beating me. Beating me made me a better fighter, a better person. In this camp I didn’t f*** around. I stayed in the grind and put myself through it."
In the co-main event, Gilbert Burns beat Jorge Masvidal by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) in the welterweight division.
Burns, who trains in Florida, was the clear winner, with Masvidal declaring after the bout that he would retire.
The Tampa Bay Rays claimed an eighth straight win to start the new season, extending the best MLB start in the past 20 years with an 11-0 rout of the Oakland Athletics on Saturday.
The last team to start 8-0 where the Kansas City Royals in 2003, who won their first nine games. The Rays, however, have won all eight games by four or more runs and outscored their opponents 64-18.
Tampa Bay's margin of victory is arguably most impressive, with the 1939 New York Yankees marking the last time any team has won eight games by four or more runs at any point of any season, managing that in 10 straight games.
Saturday's win came after a scoreless first three innings, before Isaac Paredes' two-run single. Randy Arozarena repeated that feat in the fifth, before another Paredes' RBI to open up a 5-0 lead.
Homers to Manuel Margot, Josh Lowe and Arozarena rounded out an emphatic victory for the Rays.
Jeffrey Springs threw seven strikeouts across seven scoreless innings on the mound, allowing three hits and three walks.
Stott walk-off caps Phillies' rally
Bryson Stott capped the Philadelphia Phillies' three-run ninth inning rally with a walk-off RBI single to secure a 3-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
The Reds went 2-0 at the top of the ninth inning from Jake Fraley's sacrifice fly, before the Phillies rallied with Brandon Marsh and Edmundo Sosa driving in runs to square it up.
Stott stepped up and singled to right field, driving in Marsh, who had stolen to second base, as outfielder Wil Myers bobbled the grounded ball.
It was Stott's second career walk-off hit and helped the Phillies secure back-to-back wins and improve to 3-5 after their 0-4 start.
Stanton blasts big in Yankees triumph
The New York Yankees piled on three fifth-inning runs including a Giancarlo Stanton home run in their 4-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles to improve to a 5-3 record.
The O's led early from Anthony Santander's first-inning sacrifice fly to drive in Cedric Mullins, but the Yankees squared it in the fourth from Aaron Hicks' single before their fifth-inning three-run salvo.
Rookie Anthony Volpe tripled before scoring from D.J. LeMahieu's double, with Aaron Judge driving in the latter with a sacrifice fly. Stanton blasted a 436-feet homer to left center with 116.3 mph exit velocity.
Second seed Ons Jabeur secured a berth in a second successive Charleston Open final after triumphing 7-5 7-5 in a tight battle with third seed Daria Kasatkina.
Jabeur trailed a break in both sets but won in 109 minutes, aided by a three-hour rain delay at 5-3 down in the first frame allowing her to re-group.
The Tunisian had been a double break down at 4-1 in the first set, with Jabeur breaking Kasatkina when she served for the set at 5-2.
Jabeur's progress means she has reached her 11th WTA level final, this marking her first since the 2022 US Open which she lost to Iga Swiatek.
Jabeur lost last year's Charleston final to Belinda Bencic and the two may face off again in this year's decider, with the Swiss fourth seed leading top seed Jessica Pegula 7-5 6-6 (2-4) before rain forced their semi-final to be postponed until Sunday.
Bencic looked to have blown a 5-2 first-set lead, failing to serve out the opening frame before Pegula squared it up. But Bencic held serve, then broke Pegula to love to claim the lead.
There were breaks in the opening two games of the second set before it went to serve, until rain intervened with Pegula having a slight advantage in the tiebreaker.
Play will resume on Sunday not before 1:30pm local time, with the final scheduled for Sunday evening.
Second seed Tatjana Maria advanced to her second straight Copa Colsanitas final in Bogota, winning 6-3 6-4 over Briton Francesca Jones.
Maria will face either Peyton Stearns or Kamilla Rakhimova in Sunday's final.
Top seed Frances Tiafoe won two matches in a day to progress into the Houston Open semi-finals, while five other seeds bowed out on a busy Saturday of action.
Persistent rain this week in Houston meant the past three days of play have not been completed forcing a massive pile-up of matches on Saturday with the conditions clearing up.
Tiafoe took on Steve Johnson in the morning, winning 6-2 6-4 in the second round, before toppling Australian sixth seed Jason Kubler 6-4 6-4 in the quarter-finals.
The American, who only had a break of two and a half hours between his two matches, said: "I haven’t played two matches in one day in a long time.
"I thought it was unbelievable how I was able to come out here and play so well."
Tiafoe will take on Dutchman Gijs Brouwer in the last four after he got past fourth seed John Isner 6-4 7-6 (7-4), before taking down fifth seed J.J. Wolf 6-3 6-4.
Second seed Tommy Paul was another fancied American to bow out on Saturday, losing 7-6 (8-6) 6-2 to German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann in the second round.
Hanfmann progressed to the semi-finals where he will face Argentinian eighth seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry, with the German getting past Czech qualifier Tomas Machac 6-2 6-1.
Machac had bundled out American seventh seed Marcos Giron 6-4 6-4 in the second round.
Etcheverry progressed with victories over Australia's Max Purcell and Chile's Cristian Garin, winning the latter 6-1 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 in more than two and a half hours.
The Los Angeles Clippers moved a step closer to securing a playoffs berth with a 136-125 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday.
The Clippers claimed a major advantage in the complicated race to avoid the play-in tournament in the Western Conference with Kawhi Leonard top scoring with 27 points.
Leonard shot seven-of-17 from the field for his 27 points with three triples, with eight rebounds and four assists, while Russell Westbrook added 20 points, six rebounds and six assists.
Norman Powell continued his strong form off the bench with 23 points for the Clippers who rallied back from a 70-64 half-time deficit on a 14-2 run early in the third quarter.
Kevin Knox II scored a game-high 30 points for the Blazers, shooting five-of-eight from three-point range.
The Clippers, who have won four of their past six games, are fifth in the West ahead of their final regular season game against the Phoenix Suns, who they will face in the playoffs first round if they hold fifth.
LA (43-38) can finish as low as seventh should they lose to the Suns, with the Golden State Warriors (43-38) taking on Portland, while the New Orleans Pelicans (42-39) can go ahead of them if they also beat the Minnesota Timberwolves as they own the tiebreaker against the Clippers.
Timberwolves rout Spurs to keep race alive
The Minnesota Timberwolves blew out the San Antonio Spurs 151-131, meaning the order of placings in the West's play-in tournament remains undecided.
Anthony Edwards scored 33 points in 25 minutes with Karl-Anthony Towns adding 22, with Spurs conceding their most points allowed in regulation time under coach Gregg Popovich.
The 41-40 Timberwolves are ninth in the West, but hold tiebreakers against the Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans, who are both 42-39, ahead of Sunday's final slate of games. The Wolves face the Pels, while the Lakers take on the Utah Jazz.
One seed Nuggets fall to fifth loss in six
The Denver Nuggets may be the number one seed in the West but they suffered their fifth loss from their past six games with a 118-114 defeat to the eliminated Jazz.
Denver's scratchy form ahead of the playoffs continued with Nikola Jokic shooting two-of-five from the field for six points with 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Ochai Agbaji scored a career-high and game-high 28 points with three-of-11 three-pointers as Utah snapped a four-game losing skid.
Sam Bennett is having quite the week at Augusta, and is "just trying to enjoy it" as he remained in third place at the end of Saturday's play at The Masters.
The 23-year-old amateur shot back-to-back rounds of 68 to start the tournament, the second-lowest 36-hole score by an amateur in Masters history, and featured in the final group of the third round along with leader Brooks Koepka and second-placed Jon Rahm.
Play was stopped early due to heavy rain, with the trio only able to play six holes, Bennett dropping shots on the first two before producing four pars.
He ended the day on six over par overall, seven behind Koepka and three off Rahm, but however his Masters ends, he is determined to have fun.
"I'm just trying to enjoy it," Bennett said after Saturday's play. "I feel comfortable out there. The bogeys on one and two weren't because of nerves. They were simply just bad swings."
The third round will resume on Sunday ahead of the final round, which will hopefully be played to completion given the more favourable weather forecast.
"Everybody coming into the week was, 'Yeah, hope you get Low Am,'" The U.S. Amateur champion added. "That's pretty much all they were saying. I just wanted to put two good rounds up. I knew my golf was good enough to compete out here.
"I've found myself in a situation that now I've got a golf tournament that I can go out and win."
No amateur has ever won The Masters, while an amateur has only ever finished in second place three times: Frank Stranahan (1947), Ken Venturi (1956) and Charles R. Coe (1961).
"Hopefully the weather, it's sunny, and the course is going to be soft. So I think it's going to be gettable," Bennett said.
"I'm sure there's going to be some mud balls out there... I'm just going to try to have fun."
Brooks Koepka agreed with the decision to call off play at the Masters on Saturday, with weather disrupting play for a second day in a row.
Inclement weather led to the action being halted at 3:15pm local time at Augusta National, when Koepka was on the seventh hole.
He had extended his lead over Jon Rahm to four strokes by the time Saturday's play came to an end, with a mammoth Sunday lying ahead if the tournament is to finish as scheduled.
While a second day of disruption will cause headaches for tournament organisers – the final group have 29 holes to play if the Masters is to avoid a Monday finish for the first time since 1983 – Koepka feels the decision was the right one.
"It's obviously super difficult. The ball's not going anywhere," he said. "You've got rain to deal with, and it's freezing cold. It doesn't make it easy.
"You've got to make some pressure putts. You know it was going to be a difficult day. You've just got to grind through it and try to salvage something.
"That seventh green was soaked. It was very tough. I thought I hit a good bunker shot, and it looked like it just skidded on the water. So, I'm glad we stopped.
"I think it was spot on. Maybe I couldn't have hit that bunker shot on seven, but at the end of the day, it's fine. I'm okay with it."
The Masters will resume at 8:30am local time on Sunday, dependent on the condition of the course and overnight rain, with the final round expected to begin at 12:30pm local time.
The NBA is investigating the Dallas Mavericks' team selection from their 115-112 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Friday.
The defeat ensured Dallas miss out on the play-in tournament but retain their number 10 slot in the 2023 draft lottery, still owing the New York Knicks a top-10 protected pick as part of a 2019 trade to acquire Kristaps Porzingis.
The Mavericks left out Kyrie Irving, Josh Green, Tim Hardaway Jr, Maxi Kleber and Christian Wood, while Luka Doncic only played the first quarter at American Airlines Center.
Mavs coach Jason Kidd had called it an "organisational decision", later adding: "It's not so much waving the white flag. It's [that] decisions sometimes are hard in this business. We're trying to build a championship team. With this decision, this is maybe a step back. But hopefully it leads to going forward."
Owner Mark Cuban had previously denied his team would deliberately tank, saying on Wednesday: "The guys don't want to do that. Players aren't going to do that. Players don't do that."
However, multiple reports on Saturday said the league would be looking into the matter, citing a statement from NBA spokesperson Mike Bass on Saturday.
"The NBA commenced an investigation today into the facts and circumstances surrounding the Dallas Mavericks' roster decisions and game conduct with respect to last night's Chicago Bulls-Mavericks game, including the motivations behind those actions," Bass said.
Kidd has already confirmed his star players will also not feature in Dallas' final game of the season against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.
Brooks Koepka extended his lead at The Masters to four strokes before play was suspended for a second day in a row.
Entering the day with a three-stroke advantage, Jon Rahm reduced the lead to two on Saturday morning as one of the players returning to finish their second rounds, posting a two-under 70 to move to 10 under.
Koepka extended his lead when the third round got underway, sitting four ahead of the Spaniard and one under through six holes before officials suspended play for the rest of the day at 3:15pm local time.
Rahm, who had back-to-back bogeys at the fourth and fifth, sits one over in his third round, with third-placed amateur Sam Bennett two over but with a one-stroke advantage over Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay and Viktor Hovland in the overall standings, as the Norwegian continues to fall after his opening round of 65 on Thursday.
Five-time champion Tiger Woods dropped to nine over par in soaking conditions, with the weather resulting in a mammoth day of action on Sunday if the tournament is to avoid a first Monday finish since 1983.
The final group must play 29 holes if the tournament is to finish on time, though the weather forecast looks more favourable.
Shot of the day
Lining up with Sam Burns and Jordan Spieth for the day, Cameron Young joined the duo by missing the green in regulation on the opening hole, which left the trio all turning to the wedge.
It seemed it would be pars all round but Young had other ideas, chipping the ball over the mound and watching it find the hole, resulting in the first roar of the round.
A little birdie told me...
Fred Couples had only half a hole to play on Saturday morning, having hit his drive on the 18th in Friday's second round before play was suspended due to inclement weather.
A bright and early start did not deter the veteran, who finished with a bogey to end 1-over par through 36 holes, ensuring he made the cut.
At 63 years and 183 days, Couples became the oldest player to make the cut in Masters' history.
Casper Ruud defeated Quentin Halys in a third-set tie-break to reach the final of the Estoril Open, where Miomir Kecmanovic awaits after defeating Marco Cecchinato.
The number one seed, competing in his first semi-final of the season, prevailed 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-2) in Portugal to move within one match of a 10th singles title.
Ruud broke his opponent's serve in the opening game and saw out the first set, but Halys – competing in his first ATP Tour semi-final – hit back in the second to prolong the match.
Both men held as the contest went the distance, but Ruud's quality told as he raced 3-0 ahead in the deciding tie-break and did not look back as he set up a final with Kecmanovic.
World number 40 Kecmanovic needed a little over an hour to beat sixth seed Cecchinato, who had surprised Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the previous round.
Kecmanovic, aiming to add to his only previous singles success in Kitzbuhel three years ago, held serve throughout to claim a 6-3 6-1 win over the 2018 French Open semi-finalist.
Elsewhere on Saturday, the final seeded player fell at the Grand Prix Hassan II as Dan Evans was defeated 2-6 6-4 6-2 by Roberto Carballes Baena.
Carballes Baena has now eliminated three seeded players and will face Alexandre Muller in Sunday's final after the Frenchman saw off Pavel Kotov in straight sets.
Muller edged a first-set tie-break and proved too strong in the second as he saw out a 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 victory in Marrakesh.
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