He limped to victory in the first set and fought his way to victory in the second. But in the third set, Ruud had trouble against his Russian opponent. Instead of Ruud securing the final ticket in the third, the Russian showed that he was still in the game. As a result, the two had to go out in a fourth set – but there it was the 23-year-old who was completely superior. Ruud took six sets in a row – the last one a blank game – and thereby secured victory in the semi-finals. CLICKED FIST: Casper Ruud showed strength in the second set. Photo: Sarah Stier / AFP Played big in the second set After a very evenly played first set, which went all the way to a tiebreak, Casper Ruud limped to victory. But in the second set, Casper Ruud seemed to come out with a completely different confidence. The 23-year-old played big and at times seemed to have steely control over his Russian opponent. But then it turned around in the third set. The Russian rose considerably and Ruud struggled at times against the 26-year-old. Ruud had good control of his own serve game, but so did his opponent. It wavered back and forth before it failed a little for the Norwegian. He eventually had to hold his serve to get a tiebreak, but he couldn’t. RAISED THE LEVEL: Russian Karen Khatsjanov hit back strongly after a poor second set. Photo: Charles Krupa / AP Thus the match went to a fourth set. Here, too, Ruud had to struggle a bit at the start, but on his own serve game he delivered the goods. – This is fun tennis. Absolutely crazy how good this forehand is, said Discovery commentator Svein-Espen Olsen, when Ruud went up 30–15 in the third game of the fourth set. At 40–15, Ruud has two opportunities to break, and does so at the first opportunity. For the first time in the set, he went into the lead. From there, the 23-year-old began to look more like himself from the second set. Hard duel Ruud got off to a good start in the match against Khatjanov. The Norwegian took the first game before breaking in the second and thus led 2–0. But then the Russian got more into it and the first set became more and more even. SMIL: There was a good atmosphere between the two – before the match. Photo: Matt Rourke / AP – I think Casper looks a bit unsure, said commentator Svein-Espen Olsen on the 4-3 lead to the Russian in the first set. But the 23-year-old seemed to gain more confidence during the match – but the Russian didn’t seem to lack that either. It all became a very evenly played affair, which eventually ended in a tiebreak. Ruud finally got a set ball, but Khatjanov saved the first two. Then, after a long and wild exchange of balls on the third set ball, Ruud finally won the first set. The Russian took the lead in the second set, before Ruud got off to a slightly delayed start. The Norwegian won four straight sets and suddenly had a 5-1 lead. Khatjanov won one game, but Ruud eventually won the set 6–2. BIG GAME: Ruud raised the level from the first to the second set. Photo: ELSA / AFP Ruud and Khatjanov have only met once before, in the first round of the ATP 1000 tournament in Rome in 2020. Then the Norwegian won 2–1. The road to number one Final-ready Casper Ruud can become number one in the world rankings already tonight, but may also have to fight for the title in the final. There are different paths to the number one position. If Ruud wins the final, he will in any case go to the top of the world rankings. But he can also become number one if he reaches the final and does not face Carlos Alcaraz. The Spaniard plays his semi-final against Frances Tiafoe tonight to Saturday Norwegian time. If neither Ruud nor Alcaraz had made it to the final, Rafael Nadal would have topped the ranking.
ttn-69
Casper Ruud ready for the US Open final – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
