contents
Casper Ruud wins the Scandinavian duel against Holger Rune in Paris and meets Marin Cilic in the semifinals.
Legend:
Denmark congratulates Norway
Holger Rune (right) has to admit defeat to Casper Ruud.
Imago Images/Richard Callis
The Quarterfinals
- Casper Ruud (NOR / ATP 8) pp. Holger Rune (DEN / ATP 40) 6: 1, 4: 6, 7: 6 (7: 2), 6: 3
- Marin Cilic (CRO/ATP 23) s. Andrej Rublew (RTR/ATP 7) 5:7, 6:3, 6:4, 3:6, 7:6 (10:2)
The high flight of shooting star and Laaksonen conqueror Holger Rune at the French Open is over. The 19-year-old Dane had to fight in the Scandinavian duel Casper Ruud beat in 4 sentences after midnight. The Norwegian showed his consistency with 55 winning strokes compared to 24 unforced errors and converted his second match point after 3:15 hours in the “night session”.
Ruud had never progressed past the round of 16 of a Grand Slam tournament before Roland Garros and is the first Norwegian to reach the semi-finals of a major tournament. His father Christian had reached at least the 3rd round of the French Open twice (1995, 1999).
Cilic continued not to stop
opponent in the battle for entry into the final Marin Cilic. The Croat prevailed in the generational duel against Andrej Rublew, who was 9 years his junior, after more than 4 hours of fighting in 5 sets. A previously very balanced game came to a surprisingly quick end in the match tie-break. Thanks to strong returns, Cilic, otherwise known for his serve, brought about a quick end in the short decision.
In the previous sets, a break was enough to win the game. First Rublew had submitted, the next two rounds were secured by Cilic and the momentum seemed to tip over on the Croatian side. Because Rublew was able to hit back again, a decisive sentence was needed, where Cilic should have the upper hand. For the 2014 US Open winner, it is Roland Garros for the first time in the round of the last 4.
Fair play award for Rublev
Rublev, on the other hand, is still waiting for his first participation in a major semifinal. Although the 24-year-old had only given up his serve twice in the whole game and won a total of only 4 points less, he had to congratulate his opponent in the end. So Rublev has to be content with an imaginary fair play prize: At 1-1 in the fifth set, the Russian allowed his opponent to repeat the point, although the referee had let Cilic’s stop ball out.
