Ruud awakening: Closing in on No. 1
2nd-generation star advances to men’s final
NEW YORK — Casper Ruud claimed a 55-shot point to end the first set of his U.S. Open semifinal while building a big lead against Karen Khachanov and held on for a 7-6 (5), 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 victory Friday that put him in his second Grand Slam title match of the year.
When it ended, spectators in Arthur Ashe Stadium called out his name, “Ruuuuud!” — and it sounded sort of as if they were booing, rather than saluting.
Ruud, the runner-up to Rafael Nadal at the French Open in June, is a 23-yearold from Norway who can move from No. 7 to No. 1 in the rankings by winning the championship at Flushing Meadows on Sunday.
“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, back at that stage just a few months later. His opponent in this final on Sunday will be No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain or No. 26 Frances Tiafoe of the United States. Like Ruud, Alcaraz went into Friday with a chance to rise to replace 2021 U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev atop the rankings after the tournament.
Ruud is coached by his father, former professional player Christian, and the game plan worked perfectly for most of the day against the 31st-ranked Khachanov, a 6-foot-6 Russian with a powerful serve who eliminated Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios in five sets in the quarterfinals.
This marks the latest step in a real move forward for Ruud in Grand Slam play.
He came into this year with a record of just 14-13 at the sport’s most important events — 3-4 in New York, where his best previous showing was a thirdround appearance in 2020 — then needed to sit out the Australian Open in January after twisting his ankle in practice the day before the tournament began.
Since then? He’s 13-2 at the majors in 2022.
Another shot for Jabeur:
Getting to a Grand Slam final is no longer new to Ons Jabeur. She figures it’s time to add a major trophy to her list of groundbreaking accomplishments.
And she’s sure she is more readytodoitattheU.S.Open than she was at Wimbledon two months ago.
Jabeur reached a second consecutive Slam title match without needing to produce her best tennis Thursday night, taking full advantage of a shaky showing by Caroline Garcia to win their semifinal, 6-1, 6-3.
“Feels more real, to be honest with you, just to be in the final again. At Wimbledon, I was kind of just living the dream, and I couldn’t believe it,” Jabeur said after ending Garcia’s 13-match winning streak. “Now maybe I know what to do.”
On Saturday, with a championship on the line, Jabeur will go up against No. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek, who grabbed the last four games, and 16 of the last 20 points, to come back and beat No. 6 Aryna Sabalenka 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Repeat feat: Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury became the second team in the professional era to repeat as U.S. Open men’s doubles champions, beating Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski 7-6 (4), 7-5. The top-seeded team joined the Hall of Fame duo of Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde in 1995 and ’96 as the only teams to go back-to-back in New York since 1968.