Casper Ruud Beats Opponent In Straight Sets To Reach Next Level – French Open 2023
Fourth seed Casper Ruud came through a stern test from in-form Nicolas Jarry to make the French Open quarter-finals.
Ruud, the 2022 Roland Garros runner-up, was pushed hard by the unseeded Chilean in a match that lasted three hours and 22 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
But the Norwegian, 24, won the key points at the key moments to triumph in straight sets, 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 7-5.
Ruud will face fellow Scandinavian Holger Rune, of Denmark, or Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo in the last eight.
Jarry had never won a match at Roland Garros before this year, suffering three first-round exits, but the 6ft 6in South American proved a far more obdurate obstacle for Ruud than a straight-set defeat suggests.
Ultimately, Ruud’s experience on the big stage told as he comfortably won a first set tie-break in which Jarry’s shot selection let him down on more than one occasion.
The world number four, beaten by 14-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal in last year’s final, came from 4-1 and break point down to take the second set, helped by Jarry netting an overhead smash at set point.
Jarry, who beat Ruud in three sets on his way to the Geneva Open title last month, broke serve in the third set too but gifted the break straight back and lost his service again at 5-5 before the Norwegian served out victory.
“I felt physically fine – I was ready for more if we had to play more,” Ruud said in his on-court interview following the victory.
“I was down a break in both the second and the third sets but I was able to stay in and neutralise his serve and win the most important points of the match.”
Alexander Zverev faces Grigor Dimitrov in Monday’s evening session match on court Philippe-Chatrier, with the winner to face Tomas Martin Etcheverry or Yoshihito Nishioka in the quarter-finals.
