2022 runner-up puts in clinical performance for a third career major quarter-final
©Cédric Lecocq / FFTCasper Ruud roared back into the Roland-Garros last eight with a resolute 7-6(3), 7-5, 7-5 triumph over in-form Nicolas Jarry on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
The Chilean defeated Ruud from a set down a 10 days ago en route to lifting the Geneva title, however, the three-hour 20-minute tussle followed a different script on Monday.
The Norwegian 2022 finalist advances to a Paris quarter-final rematch with Holger Rune, which Ruud clinched in four sets last June.
Just like Geneva, it was evident from the very beginning this would be another finely poised battle.
World No.35 Jarry, already with a 19-6 clay record in 2023, earned five break points in a bruising opening game, before Ruud seized the initiative at 3-0 up.
Jarry was finally on the scoreboard after 20 minutes and with his forehand firing, started to claim the extended rallies to redress the balance.
Heavy hitting from both players took the set to a tiebreak. The world No.4 stepped up, and whilst Jarry sprinkled in some errors, Ruud was rock solid and swatted away a backhand approach shot to take the 67-minute opener.
This time Jarry, hoping to become the first Chilean in the last eight since Fernando Gonzalez in 2009, launched to 3-1 up with some solid hitting.
Ruud responded, scorching a backhand pass just beyond the extensive wingspan of Jarry to help reel in the 27-year-old.
Another tiebreak was looming at 5-5 until Jarry netted an overheard from a lofted Ruud return. The Chilean pulled off a dinked backhand stop volley from shin height, but Ruud was too smart, too strong and his punchy serving secured the set.
Jarry's double offensive off his serve and forehand earned another break lead for 4-2 and a fourth set appeared on the horizon.
But Ruud had other ideas, the Norwegian finding his spots at the right time to rattle through five of the last six games.
The world No.4 will be delighted with the majority of the numbers. Ten aces complement a 71 per cent winning rate on first-serve points.
The 24-year-old mixed up the play too with 11 drop shots and he managed nine passing shots with Jarry looming large at the net.
The Norwegian leads the ATP Tour since the start of the 2020 season in clay-court wins (85), clay-court finals (11) and clay-court titles (9).
Ruud also booked his third Grand Slam quarter-final. In his previous two last-eight showings, he has soared into the final: he was runner-up last year at Roland-Garros and US Open 2022.
Team hard work pays off: "It was great for me. Three very, very, very tough sets. If we played five sets, I don't know how long we would have played.
"I managed to do well, I was a break down in both the second and third sets, I'm happy I managed to figure it out, to neutralise his serve and win the most important points.
"I think today I can thank my team for pushing me every day in practice. Because not every day is as fun as other days. I do the work and I felt physically fine. This is a win, not just for me, but also for my team. We've done some great work over the past couple of years and I'm happy to be back in the quarter-finals."
Roland-Garros 2022 final on his mind : "I think last year I was playing every match freely and quite pressureless, because I came from semis in Rome and finals in Geneva so my mentality was sort of like I have done really well anyway so whatever happens here happens.
"But this year I felt a little more pressure obviously because I needed to try to sort of defend my final spot. That's been on my mind.
"So I don't feel like I have played my best tennis yet, but at the same time, I'm playing many opponents who play very aggressively and they play fast and sort of give me no rhythm. Hopefully I can bring my A game in the next one, it's going to be tough."
ROLAND-GARROS
19 May - 8 June 2025
