Casper Ruud headed into the 2022 season with just one Grand Slam appearance that lasted as far as the fourth round anywhere and was determined to improve his record at the four most important events in tennis.
Then, a day before the Australian Open began in January, he twisted his ankle in practice and needed to withdraw. Hardly ideal. Just look at him now: Ruud is into the semifinals at the U.S. Open and has a shot at moving up to No. 1 in the ATP rankings, following a run to the final at the French Open.
The 23-year-old from Norway, who is coached by his father, former professional player, Christian, parlayed what he called “a better start than I ever had before in a match” to a 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory over 2021 Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini in the quarter-finals under a closed roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium on a rainy Monday.
He improved to 12-2 in Grand Slam competition in 2022 after making just two unforced errors in the first set, 11 fewer than No. 13 Berrettini.
“Everything sort of went [in] my favor,” Ruud said. “I was hitting all the spots, all the shots that I needed to.”
He completes it in three!<a href=”https://twitter.com/CasperRuud98?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@CasperRuud98</a> is impressive in his first <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/USOpen?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#USOpen</a> quarterfinal. <a href=”https://t.co/hENtZXSgcV”>pic.twitter.com/hENtZXSgcV</a>
—@usopen
Berrettini’s take: “After 20 minutes I was [down] 5-0. I don’t know how really. I don’t know what happened.”
Ruud now will face the winner of the quarter-final scheduled for Tuesday night between Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios — who eliminated defending champion Daniil Medvedev in the fourth round — and No. 27 Karen Khachanov.
Jabeur makes history
Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur of Tunisia advanced to her first semifinal in New York with a 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory over the player who beat Serena Williams in the third round, Ajla Tomljanovic.
History made ✅ <a href=”https://t.co/qqO0aTZcoB”>pic.twitter.com/qqO0aTZcoB</a>
—@usopen
Jabeur is the first woman representing an African nation to get to the final four of the U.S. Open during the professional era, which began in 1968.
She said her run to the title match at the All England Club allowed her to “believe more in myself” and realize, “I had it in me that I can win a Grand Slam.”
As for chucking her racket during the match against Tomljanovic, Jabeur joked sheepishly that the equipment “kept slipping away from my hand.”
Garcia takes down Gauff
Jabeur will take on Caroline Garcia, who reached her first Grand Slam semifinal at age 28 by beating 18-year-old American Coco Gauff 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday night.
The 17th-seeded Garcia had lost both of her two previous matches against the 12th-seeded Gauff, who was the runner-up at the French Open in June, but was by far the better player this time in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
She finished last year ranked 74th, but now is projected to rise into the top 10 next week.
“I’m looking forward to the next challenge and what I can achieve,” Garcia said.
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