By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday June 3, 2022
Norway's Casper Ruud defeated Marin Cilic in four sets to become Norway's first Grand Slam finalist.
Photo Source: Getty
Norway’s Casper Ruud has been one of the most lethal players on clay since 2020, but until this year he was missing a trip to the second week at Roland-Garros.
That has changed this week in Paris – and in a big way.
No.8-seeded Ruud booked his trip to a maiden Grand Slam final on Friday evening in Paris, topping Croatia’s Marin Cilic, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2, to book a spot next to Rafael Nadal in Sunday’s final.
"It was a great match from my side,” Ruud told the crowd after the two hour and 55-minute tussle. “I didn't start the greatest but Marin also played very well in the first set. I was too defensive and then I was able to break him in the second set. That got me going a little bit. From that break I played some of my best tennis this year, serving well, super aggressive, so I'm super happy with the performance today.”
It was a surprise run for 20th-seeded Cilic this week in Paris. He erased a pair of Russians – No.2-seeded Daniil Medvedev and No.7-seeded Andrey Rublev – in back-to-back matches to reach the semis, but ran into a player that was too tough to handle in the 23-year-old Ruud.
Ruud leads the ATP Tour in wins on clay (66) and titles (7) on clay since the start of 2020.
The son and protoge of former ATP Pro Christian Ruud has broken ground for his country by becoming it’s first singles Grand Slam finalist of the Open Era.
He will take on the toughest task in tennis on Sunday in Paris when he faces Nadal for the first time. The Norwegian told the crowd how much he looks up to the 13-time Roland-Garros champion after Friday’s win.
"Looking up to Rafa, the player I'm going to play in the final, he never complains and he's a perfect example of how I think you should behave on court – never give up and never complain. He's been my idol for all my life.”
Ruud even trains at Nadal’s academy in Spain. He's eager to meet in the most important match of his career.
"He's the last player of the Big Three and the very, very top players in the world I have never faced. I guess this is perfect timing and it was worth the wait to finally play him in a grand slam final. It will be a special moment for me. Hopefully a little bit for him as well. He has played so many finals but at least he's playing a student from his academy this time, so it's going to be a fun one hopefully."
After his 7-6(8), 6-6 RET win over injured Alexander Zverev on Friday, Nadal shared his feelings about Ruud.
“Casper is a professional,” he said. “He has I think a very good character to play tennis. He's very relaxed, humble. He's always in a positive mood about learning. “I think in the academy we were able to help him a little bit during this period of time, but more than another thing is about, as I always say, I like to see the good persons achieving his dreams.”
Nadal improved to 11-3 with his victory on Friday. The Spaniard (13-0) has never lost a Roland-Garros final.
If he can defeat Ruud he will pull ahead of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in the all-time Grand Slam titles race by two for the first time. Currently Nadal has 21 major titles, while Djokovic and Federer each have 21.