Ruud is looking forward to the final against Nadal: ‘He is my idol’ | Tennis

sport">For the 23-year-old Norwegian, it is the first final of a grand slam tournament. Ruud’s best performance at a grand slam tournament so far was the fourth round at the Australian Open in 2021.

sport">Cilic, winner of the US Open in 2014, started well in the semifinals. He took the first set 6-3 with two breaks. Then Ruud took over the initiative. The number eight on the placement list won the 33-year-old Croat’s save at 1-1 in the second set and then tied the score in sets. In the second set Cilic lost his service twice and Ruud immediately took distance in the fourth set. At 5-2 he got three match points on his own service. On the first, he immediately finished it off with an ace.

Dictate

sport">Ruud had won the Geneva clay tournament in the run-up to Roland Garros and the Buenos Aires tournament earlier this year. Of his six other titles, he also won five on clay. From the second set, the Norwegian served well and hit sixteen more aces. He dictated the game and didn’t let Cilic use any more breakpoints.

sport">The match between the two tennis players who were in the semifinals of Roland Garros for the first time was briefly interrupted at 4-1 in favor of Ruud in the third set. A young woman walked onto the Court Philippe-Chatrier and chained herself to the net with a chain around her neck. She was wearing a t-shirt with which she wanted to draw attention to the climate. Security agents released the activist. After about fifteen minutes Ruud and Cilic were able to continue playing. Although the Norwegian conceded two breakpoints, he still managed to win his game and then the set.

Idool Nadal

sport">His opponent Nadal reached the final after Alexander Zverev gave up.

sport">“It’s great that I can play against him. He is the last player of the ‘big three’ that I have not yet played against”, said Ruud. “It was worth waiting for this to happen in a grand slam final. I really look up to Nadal. He is the perfect example of how you behave on the track. He never gives up and never complains. Now he can play against a former student from his own academy,” he referred to himself.

sport">To reach that final, Ruud had to improve his game after the first set. “From the start I didn’t play very well and was a bit too hesitant,” the eighth-seeded Norwegian looked back. “In the second set I was able to win his serve and from that moment on I played my best tennis of the year. I am very happy with my performance here. I started hitting harder and serving better and just playing a higher level.”

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