After storming into the finals on the US Open, the world quantity seven Casper Ruud admitted that he thought the French Open closing could be his “only final at a Grand Slam” in his profession.
The Norwegian star misplaced to Spanish legend Rafael Nadal in straight units 3-6, 3-6, 0-6 in Paris. Ruud, nevertheless, carried the momentum within the year-end main as he made it to his second consecutive Grand Slam closing after defeating Karen Khachanov 7-6(5), 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 in semi-finals at Flushing Meadows.
“After Roland Garros I was extremely happy but of course humble enough to think that could be my only final at a Grand Slam in my career. It doesn’t come easy, but here I am back again a couple [of] months later,” Ruud mentioned after beating Khachanov.
Silencing the critics.
Casper Ruud has confirmed that he is greater than a clay specialist. pic.twitter.com/JX9boUqJRM
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 9, 2022
Ruud, who’s the fifth seed on the US Open, performed with nice depth all through the three-hour semi-final match. Ruud pressured Khachanov into errors earlier than boosting his possibilities of rising to primary within the ATP rankings.
“I think we were both a bit nervous at the beginning, a few breaks back and forth. But you have to take into account that this match is probably the biggest in both of our careers. Of course there will also be some nerves but I was fortunate to win that first set, which calmed my nerves a little bit.
“I performed phenomenal within the second and Karen stepped up within the third. It was forwards and backwards like each five-setter is, however I’m simply so comfortable,” Ruud added.
During his earlier appearances in New York, the Norwegian by no means moved past the third spherical in his 4 outings. However, within the 2022 occasion, he eradicated the likes of Matteo Berrettini earlier than reaching the semi-finals.
Ruud is now equal with Cameron Norrie on 44 tour-level wins this season, with solely Carlos Alcaraz (49) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (46) having extra wins. The Norwegian may qualify for the ATP Finals if he goes onto raise the US Open trophy on Sunday.
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