No to the world. 8 Casper Ruud reached his first Major final at Roland Garros. The Norwegian defeated Marin Cilic 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 in Court Philippe-Chatrier in two hours and 55 minutes to get the best result. Casper became the first Norwegian player to win a Major final, beating Rafael Nadal who won 13 times.
Ruud lifted Roland Garros after reaching the Rome Masters semi-finals and winning in Geneva. Casper started in Paris and needed almost four hours to beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the opening round. Ruud overcame many obstacles to find himself in the semi-finals and stay on course for the title.
Cilic played superbly for his best result in Paris. However, it was not enough to beat the young team and reach the final, despite taking the opening. Ruud fired 16 aces and made the second serve difference that lifted him.
Casper Ruud beat Marin Cilic in four games in Paris in his first major final.
Cilic had two breaks in nine chances, both in the opening set. Casper took 40% of the return points and converted five breaks to write history for his country.
Ruud had a good touch and threw 41 winners and 21 unforced errors. Cilic could not follow that pace and repeat what he did against Andrey Rublev in the first round. The Croat grabbed 11 return points in threes and fours, a recipe for disaster against a strong rival.
Marin got his A-level comeback in the second half of the opener and smashed the winner in the early going in game seven. Marin saved the next break point to bring home 5-3. The Croat produced another breakthrough in nine games, firing the ball in front to open the scoring on 43 minutes.
Cilic had plenty of return points in the second set but failed to convert breaks. Ruud broke 15 points in the third game after a big mistake by his rival, saved the next break point and moved to 3-1.
Marin held to love at 3-5 to extend the match and created three break chances in the next one after Casper broke back. Ruud prevented them from winning and fired a backhand ball into the winning goal to make it 6-4 and tie the score after an hour and a half.
Building on this promotion, the Norwegian got off to a strong start in the third row. He broke the first game after a devastating Marin error and held the next one to love. Ruud took a break in the third game when he scored the winning goal with a backhand ball, and a few minutes later he scored the winning goal and made the game 4-0.
Marin missed a break in the eighth inning and Casper hit the game-winning run to make it 6-2 and close the end of the game. The Norwegian served well in the fourth set and the Croat failed to follow that momentum.
Casper broke open in the first game with a comebacker and scored in the second game to secure the lead. Ruud broke again in the 5th game after the opponent made his forehand, and drew the winning goal in the next game 5-1. Casper worked his way to a 5-2 victory and hit love to hold on to love and his first place in the finals.
