“That was another great match from me,” said Casper Ruud after the milestone. “After the French Open, I thought that this might be my only Grand Slam final of my career. That I could do it again a few months later felt incredible.”
Ruud started with a break but Khachanov quickly made it 2-2. Both exchanged breaks again to make it 4:4. At 4:4 the Russian had a break chance, but the Norwegian thwarted it. “In the beginning we were both maybe a bit nervous, but this match was maybe the biggest match of our career so far,” Ruud later admitted.
Everything stayed in line until the tiebreak, where Ruud made the preliminary decision with an intermediate sprint from 3:3 to 6:3 and won 7:5 after 58 minutes.
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On the third set ball, both delivered the longest rally of the tournament so far with 55 strokes – with a better end for Ruud. “Winning the set helped calm my nerves a bit,” he said.
Incredible thing! Ruud converts set ball after 55 shot rally
Ruud scores 14 points in a row
In the first game of the second set, the 23-year-old missed three break chances, but then played as one and didn’t let Khachanov come into play at all. When he served himself, the Norwegian didn’t even give up a point.
With 14 point wins in a row, he quickly made it 5:1 and shortly afterwards won the round 6:2 with the next smooth service game. “His volley has improved a lot. He always plays the right ball, moves forward at the right moment,” praised Mischa Zverev Eurosport.
“Is that strong!” Ruud plays like one piece
“Tennis is also a psychological game. Sometimes it looks completely different inside the players than it appears on the outside,” Ruud later said.
“There he is!” Khachanov wins set three
Ruud double breaks Khachanov in set four
In the fourth set, however, the Norwegian took the initiative again, put pressure on Khachanov in his first service game and shortly afterwards made the break to make it 2-1. “Old Swede … uh … Norwegian,” Zverev commented on Ruud’s winning shot at the break, which is well worth seeing.
Ruud breaks in set four – “old Swede…uh…Norwegian!”
“He was more solid in every point. He returned a bit more efficiently. I always had the feeling that he could go one better,” analyzed women’s national coach Barbara Rittner later Eurosport and judged: “In the fourth set, there wasn’t enough from Khachanov.”
When Ruud shortly afterwards took service from Khachanov again to make it 4:1, the final was not far off. After exactly 3:00 hours of play, the Norwegian turned his first match point into his greatest success in New York.
Thrilling match point! Ruud makes the final perfect
“He played great and confirmed the result at the French Open. I’m impressed, he looks good and can win the tournament. I can’t believe I’m saying this – but Casper Ruud could be number one in a few days be in the world,” said tennis legend John McEnroe Eurosport and admitted: “I never, ever expected him to be so good on hard court.”
Ruud soars in world rankings
Before the second semi-final of the US Open, Ruud will even take over the virtual top spot in the world rankings and will jump to at least second place after the tournament with 5850 points – if he wins the final, the Norwegian would even take the top spot in the ranking.
“I’ll take a look,” said Ruud naturally.
Ruud exclusive: “Feels a bit surreal”
For Khachanov, reaching the semifinals in addition to the Olympic silver medal in Tokyo 2021 already meant his greatest career success. The 26-year-old had only reached the quarterfinals twice in Grand Slams before.
“Like a little mosquito”: Zverev compares Ruud to a tennis legend
The Russian will move up 13 places in the world rankings and will be ranked 18th after the tournament. Khachanov’s career high is an eight.
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