Casper Ruud charged into his second straight French Open final in Paris as he demolished Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 to register an easy victory in a semifinal match at the Court Philippe-Chatrier.
With a win over Zverev in the semifinals, Ruud set up a blockbuster clash against Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s championship match. Playing at the Court Philippe-Chatrier, Ruud dominated Zverev with his signature clean baseline hitting, completing a two-hour and nine-minute victory.
His relentlessness in forcing his opponent to play was the defining quality of his performance against Zverev. Ruud committed only 19 unforced errors in three sets, compared to 37 for Zverev, and his rocket forehand was the major weapon in his 25-win total.
Zverev dropped his first service game of the match but quickly rallied with a break of his own in the third game to take a 1-2 lead. That was the most the German could do, as he did not break his opponent’s serve again. Ruud broke again in the next game and was really adept at blunting the 22nd seed’s powerful delivery with some razor-sharp returns throughout.
Ruud sealed the second set with a solitary break in the seventh game, and he rushed to victory from there as a tired Zverev battled to keep up. To complete his victory, the fourth seed strolled to the final set without facing a break point.