Norwegian Ruud sets up French Open final against Nadal

Norway’s Casper Ruud celebrates his semi-final win over Marin Cilic of Croatia (REUTERS)

PARIS – Eighth seed, Casper Ruud excelled from a set to beat fouled Marin Cilic 3-6 6-4 6-2 6-2 on Friday to become the first Norwegian man to reach Grand Slam singles final and set up a Clash with French Open title Rafa Nadal won 13 times.

With a win over Croat over Court Philippe Chatrier, Ruud will at least rise to a career-high sixth in the world when the list is updated at the conclusion of the clay-court Grand Slam at Roland Garros.

“It was a great game from my side. I didn’t start well but from that break (second set) I played some of my best tennis matches this year,” Ruud said in his on-court interview.

“Marin is usually a very fast player and plays very hard. I think I need to step up a bit and counter-attack and make some faster shots. That helped. ”

Ruud entered the competition with a 2-0 head-to-head record against former world number three Cilic and a clay-court scoring record. Before Friday’s game, the Norwegian, as of 2020, had won 65 leading games and seven surface titles.

But it was Croat, 10 years older than his 23-year-old opponent, who drew first, breaking Ruud twice in the opening set to take the lead.

The big hit Cilic, the 20th seed, hit the field with the winners from his powerful forehand and saved all three breakpoints he faced on his own serve.

But Ruud showed early on why he was so highly regarded on clay by absorbing Cilic’s power with his solid defence in the third game of the second set, forcing the opposition. His defender committed a series of errors that could not be forced to part.

With Ruud serving in the set, Cilic had plenty of chances to level but the Norwegian hit back 0-40 to win the match with a scorching backhand at the line.

Cilic’s frustration grew as lanky Croat completely lost control of his tackles and his unwarranted errors skyrocketed as Ruud took a 4-0 lead in the third set. father.

The match was interrupted for more than 15 minutes in the third set with a score of 4-1 Ruud when a protester jumped onto the field and tied himself to the net.

Ruud lost the next two points on replay but recovered to save two break points to keep serve 5-1 ahead before serving the set on his next opportunity.

Another brace early in the fourth half was enough for Ruud and he finished the contest in under three hours with his 16th ace of the match. Cilic’s apology night ended with 56 unmissable errors – compared to just 21 for his opponents.

Ruud has broken Cilic’s serve a total of five times and on Sunday he will face Nadal, who will aim for a record-extending 22nd major title. Nadal improved after his opponent Alexander Zverev retired with a mid-match ankle injury.

“He was the last Big Three player… that I never played against,” said Ruud. “I guess it was the perfect timing and worth the wait for him to finally play in a Grand Slam final.

“It will be a special moment for me, hopefully a little bit for him. He’s played a lot of finals but at least this time he’s playing a student from his academy. Maybe fun.”

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