French Open: Ruud overcomes feisty Rune to make history for Norway

Wednesday’s
encounter
was
already
a
history
maker,
with
Ruud
having
become
the
first
male
player
from
Norway
to
have
reached
a
major
quarterfinal,
while
Rune
was
the
first
from
Denmark
to
make
the
last
eight
at
Roland
Garros.

Yet
while
Rune
at
times
showed
the
volatility
of
youth
–
albeit
with
flashes
of
the
quality
that
makes
the
world
number
40
one
of
the
brightest
prospects
on
the
ATP
Tour
–
Ruud’s
composure
got
him
through
in
the
end
as
the
23-year-old
prevailed
6-1
4-6
7-6
(7-2)
6-3.

Nadal
vs
Zverev
French
Open
2022
Semifinal:
Date,
India
Time,
Live
Streaming,
TV
Channel,
Head
To
Head

Ruud
breezed
through
the
first
set,
striking
four
aces
and
14
winners
on
his
way
to
claiming
the
opener
6-1
with
a
little
over
30
minutes
on
court.

Yet
any
chances
of
Rune
rolling
over
were
dispelled
when
the
youngster
broke
Ruud
straight
back
after
conceding
serve
to
go
3-2
down
in
the
second
set.

Having
fended
off
a
break
point,
the
crucial
double
break
came
Rune’s
way
to
seal
the
55-minute
second
set
6-4.

Rune
endured
a
nervy
hold
of
serve
to
start
the
third
set,
and
once
again
the
Dane
–
vocal
in
his
frustration
throughout
–
showed
great
resilience
to
hit
back
and
break
immediately
after
Ruud
had
nosed
ahead
at
4-3.

A
second
break
point
of
the
set
went
missing
for
Ruud,
but
the
Norwegian
was
clinical
in
the
tie-break,
getting
on
top
of
Rune
with
some
aggressive
shots
to
regain
the
momentum.

With
the
match
edging
over
three
hours,
Ruud
upped
the
tempo,
easily
holding
on
each
of
his
serves
but
making
Rune
work
hard
on
his
own.

Three
unforced
Rune
errors
handed
Ruud
three
breakpoints,
with
the
chance
to
serve
for
the
match
begging,
yet
the
19-year-old’s
resolve
came
to
the
fore
again
as
he
clawed
his
way
to
deuce
with
a
wonderful
cross-court
forehand.

But
this
time,
Rune
could
not
swing
the
pendulum
in
his
favour
as
Ruud
broke
at
the
fourth
attempt,
with
a
supreme
forehand
winner
down
the
line
sealing
his
victory.

Data
slam:
Maiden
Grand
Slam
semi
for
Ruud

The
world
number
eight
is
enjoying
a
fine
season.
He
already
has
two
titles
under
his
belt,
including
a
triumph
in
Geneva
prior
to
the
French
Open,
which
followed
on
from
reaching
the
semi-finals
in
the
Internazionali
d’Italia.

But
for
the
first
time
in
his
career,
he
is
into
the
final
four
of
a
major,
with
Marin
Cilic
(the
fourth
Croatian
male
player
to
reach
the
Roland
Garros
semi-finals
in
the
Open
Era)
standing
in
his
way
of
a
place
in
the
final.

WINNERS/UNFORCED
ERRORS
Ruud
–
55/24
Rune
–
54/46

ACES/DOUBLE
FAULTS
Ruud
–
13/1
Rune
–
1/4

BREAK
POINTS
WON
Ruud
–
5/17
Rune
–
3/6