On one long side, whispers were made in Norwegian from all quarters, while on the other side, “the world’s best forehand” was shouted in sounding northern Norwegian. Casper Ruud obviously had the crowd on his side when he lowered Emil Ruusuvuori 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 on Roland Garros’ court 14. CLEAR AGAINST RUUD: Emil Ruusuvuori. Photo: Jean-Francois Badias / AP – It was delicious, that. It was a tough match. Ruso has played much better on gravel this year than before, says Ruud to Discovery + after two hours and ten minutes of tennis. The experience was in stark contrast to the almost four-hour-long 1st round match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on the mighty Phillippe Chartrier, which seats 15,000 people, a few hundred meters away. Lane 14 is the largest of the three unnamed facilities at the French Open. Peeking through the bushes But not big enough to take away for all the spectators who wanted to see Ruud. Halfway through, almost 100 meters of people, divided into two queues, still had to be patient and hope that others packed their things early. Photo: Fredrik Tombra / NRK Others found loopholes through the bushes. At times, it felt like there were most Norwegians in the stands in Paris. And those who were not Norwegian could just as easily have been, because Ruud undoubtedly played the match with the audience behind him. Rock solid match And those who were not convinced in advance, it was along the way. People “ouf” and “ahh” through the three sets. STOP: The queue outside Lane 14 in Paris got longer and further into the match. Photo: Fredrik Tombra / NRK The Norwegian delivered a solid tennis match. Some small tingles in the beginning, a couple of violent forehand blows that went sideways and some balls in the net, but he was in reality never threatened against Ruusuvuori. Tough opposition in the 3rd round – It was very impressive and when you sit close you see how heavy it is. I just have to admit that I am really impressed, says Discovery + expert and Ruud analyst Øivind Sørvald, who watched the match from one short side. The Finn occasionally matched Ruud in the ball exchanges, but served to be able to match Norway’s world number eight in Paris. On Saturday, João Sousa or Lorenzo Sonego await in the 3rd round of the French Open. Ruud made it to the 3rd round in 2019, 2020 and 2021, but has never progressed. The Norwegian’s best performance in a Grand Slam tournament is the 4th round of the Australian Open in 2021.
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The audience lined up for Ruud – responded with a show – NRK Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule
