Casper Ruud reached his second Grand Slam final of the year by dispatching Karen Khachanov 7-6 (5), 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 in the semifinals of the U.S. Open in New York on Friday.
The fifth-seeded Ruud had a 52-43 edge in winners and won 82.6 percent of his first-serve points (57 of 69) while becoming the first Norwegian to reach the U.S. Open final.
Ruud, 23, will face either third-seeded Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz or 22nd-seeded American Frances Tiafoe in Sunday’s championship match. Those two men were slated to play Friday night.
Neither Alcaraz nor Tiafoe have played in a Grand Slam final but Ruud checked that off his tennis accomplishment list when he lost to Rafael Nadal in the French Open title match five months ago.
Ruud, who also is in contention to be the new World No. 1, felt more comfortable on the big stage Friday after having that previous Grand Slam experience.
“This match today was another great match from my side,” Ruud said in his on-court interview. “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 played phenomenal in the second and Karen stepped up in the third. It was back and forth like every five-setter is, but I am just so happy. 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.”
After winning the first set in a tiebreaker, the fans inside Arthur Ashe Stadium serenaded him with chants of “Ruuuuuuuuuud!”
Ruud followed that set with an easy win in the second set to take a commanding lead. No. 27 seed Khachanov fought back to take the third set but the Russian didn’t have enough in the tank to overcome Ruud despite possessing a 16-10 edge in aces.
The 26-year-old Khachanov, who was playing his first Grand Slam final, committed 39 unforced errors. Ruud made 34.
–Field Level Media