Norwegian tennis player Casper Ruud beat Russian Karen Khachanov in the semifinals of the US Open on Friday and remained in the race to rise as the surprising number 1 in the ATP.
In his second Grand Slam final, Ruud will face the winner of today’s other semifinal between the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz and the local Frances Tiafoe.
If Ruud wins his first big title, or even if Alcaraz is eliminated this Friday, he will be the number 1 with the biggest jump in history from his current seventh place in the ranking.
The Oslo native did his part by defeating Khachanov 7-6 (5), 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 at the main stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York.
The Norwegian thus earned a second chance to win his first ‘Major’ trophy after being overwhelmed at the last Roland Garros by Rafael Nadal in dominant straight sets.
“After Roland Garros, of course I was very, very happy, but at the same time I was humble enough to think that it might be my only final at a Grand Slam,” Ruud recalled. “It is not easy but here I am, a couple of months later, with a feeling that cannot be described in words.”
Ruud, a student for years at Nadal’s academy in Manacor (Mallorca, Spain), has this year surpassed his image as a specialist on clay, a surface on which he won his nine ATP titles, three of them this year.
This season, however, he has confirmed his progress on hard courts with his runner-up finish at the Miami Masters 1000, beaten by Alcaraz, and reaching the final next Sunday.
With double spoils on the line today, Ruud overcame early nerves to take down the dangerous Khachanov.
– Casper’s Rhythm –
Khachanov, ATP number 31, was playing his first Grand Slam semifinals at the age of 26 but in the previous round he had made a show of character to emerge victorious from a volcanic duel with Australian Nick Kyrgios.
Two days after that grueling match, Khachanov ran into a player with an antagonistic mentality and play to Kyrgios.
The impassive Ruud, patient and methodical in the selection of shots, was slow to settle down at the start of the match in which the two exchanged four service breaks.
A gray first set was resolved in the ‘tie-break’, where Ruud took command early and, after seeing two of his three set points go by, kept calm to deliver a marathon point of 55 strokes until he found a winning forehand.
Khachanov, who had bombarded Kyrgios with 30 aces, was unable to sharpen his fearsome serve (15 in the entire match) and the game was played to the rhythm of the unflappable Ruud.
The Norwegian broke Khachanov twice more and accelerated to take a 5-1 lead and easily pocket the second set.
With no margin for error, the Russian increased his aggressiveness and improved his effectiveness in serving, which allowed him to ride close to Ruud through the third set and appropriate it with a final break.
Khachanov didn’t want to give up but Ruud had taken the measure of his service and at the start of the fourth set he added two ‘breaks’ with which he opened a definitive gap for the Russian.
