1 battle and he will take the ATP throne if Carlos Alcaraz loses to Frances Tiafoe in the second semi-final! Casper played at a high level to put Karen behind, starting from scratch in the fourth set to seal the deal and stay on course for the title. Khachanov hit 15 aces, but Ruud’s first serve was his most dangerous weapon. The Norwegian won 57 of 69 points behind the first serve and embraced a nearly flawless net game. Kasper rattled off 53 winners and 34 unforced errors, taking his opponent in sets 2 and 4 and earning one of the best wins of his career.
Casper Ruud reaches his second major final.
Karen served three breaks from five chances, which were not enough to keep him safe. Rudd converted 40% of return points in six breaks from 13 chances, doing everything right and hoping to lift the title on Sunday.
They traded early breaks in the first game and remained neck-and-neck after more comeback games in games seven and eight. The set went to a tie-break and Casper won 7-5 after an impressive 56-yard rally that kept the crowd on the edge of their seats. With that momentum, Ruud served perfectly in the second set. The Norwegian claimed all 16 points in his games and kept the pressure on the other end. The Russian couldn’t follow through, breaking in games three and five to fall 4-1 behind. Rudd wrapped up the set with a love in the eighth game to build a huge lead and edge closer to the finish line. Both players served well in the first 11 games of the third set and Rudd needed one more good hold to enter the second tie break. Instead, Khachanov grabbed a break at 15 to take the set 7-5 and improve his chances after two hours and 20 minutes. Casper started from scratch in the fourth set and left four points behind on the opening shot. Karen was far from those numbers, losing serve in games three and five to find herself miles away from a positive score. Casper made one good hold after another and sealed the deal with a hold at love in game eight for a spot in the title clash.
