In his US Open semifinal match against Karen Khachanov, Casper Ruud won with a score of 7-6 (5), 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 on Friday. This victory earned him a spot in his second Grand Slam championship match of the year.
When it was over, fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium yelled out his name, “Ruuuuud!” in a way that seemed more like booing than a salute.
The 23-year-old Norwegian Ruud, who finished second to Rafael Nadal at the French Open in June, may climb from No. 7 to No. 1 in the rankings if he wins the title on Sunday at Flushing Meadows.
“After Roland Garros, I was, of course, extremely happy,” Ruud said, “but also humble enough to think that could be my only final of my career.”
Well, here he is, just a few months later, back at that point. He will compete against Spain’s No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz, who defeated Frances Tiafoe in Friday’s later semifinal despite the latter’s heroic efforts.
The victor of the Sunday final will replace Daniil Medvedev as the new No. 1 man in the world, replacing the 2021 US Open champion.
In that round in New York, all four of the men’s semifinalists were competing for the first time. When it absolutely had to, in 1881—the first year of what was then known as the United States—that had not occurred at the event. Championships.
Ruud is taught by his father, former professional player Christian, and the strategy against 31st-ranked Khachanov, a 6-foot-6 Russian with a strong serve who defeated Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios in five sets in the quarterfinals, worked flawlessly for the majority of the day.
Ruud would position far behind the baseline to return, then try to control exchanges from there in order to lessen the impact of Khachanov’s serves. For side-to-side defence, Ruud displayed faultless footwork. He also recognised opportunities to deliver deep groundstrokes that could score.
He occasionally displayed brilliance, as evidenced by the over-the-shoulder volley winner that gave him a 6-3 tiebreaker lead.
On Ruud’s third chance to end the set, the decisive point of the game was scored shortly after. It culminated in a down-the-line backhand by Ruud that drew a netted forehand in return and lasted 75 seconds longer than the second-longest rally of these entire two weeks.
His father grinned. His child extended his right hand’s two fingers while raising both arms. It might have only been the index finger to represent No. 1, which might soon appear next to his name.
Though he hated to lose it, Khachanov couldn’t think of a 55-shot rally in his career. Despite this, he was initially inspired by his performance at the end of the set.
“I felt pumped in a way that we had this long rally, we were moving both,” he said. “I felt like, ‘OK, it’s a painful one to lose a set with this point.’ On the other side I felt like, ‘OK, now we’re moving a lot, let’s keep on going.”’
In the second set, Ruud broke to take the lead 2-1 and was nearly there. Ruud broke to lead 2-1 in the fourth, ripping a down-the-line forehand winner from the doubles alley. Khachanov surged late in the third to add a little intrigue.
This is Ruud’s most recent stride on a serious upward trajectory in Grand Slam play. He entered this year with just a 14-13 record at the major tournaments in his sport, including 3-4 in New York, where his best performance to date was a third-round showing in 2020. He then had to withdraw from the Australian Open in January after twisting his ankle in practise the day before the competition started.
After that? In the majors in 2022, he is 13-2.
