French Open: Casper Ruud beats Holger Rune in men's singles quarter-final

Norwegian tennis player Casper Ruud is into his first Grand Slam semi-final after beating Danish tennis player Holger Rune in a gruelling four-set match under the lights on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Ruud, who has eight career titles, is producing his best run at a Grand Slam and will play against Croatian tennis player Marin Cilic next.

Casper Ruud defeated Holger Rune 6-1 4-6 7-6(2) 6-3 to reach his first-ever Grand Slam semi-final.

Ruud, widely regarded as a clay-court expert, was put to the test by an impressive Rune, but it was the Norwegian who came out on top in four sets to book his place in the final four.

Ruud admitted after the match that he was feeling nervous while playing in his first French Open quarter-final in the evening session, and credited Rune for his impressive performance.

The 23-year-old Ruud will face Marin Cilic in the next round hoping to win his first Grand Slam title.

Notably, Ruud leads the prestigious sports association ATP with 65 wins in clay-court matches since the start of the 2020 season. That includes defeating 2019 French Open junior champion Rune four times.

Ruud will meet 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic on Friday for a berth in the final. The other men's semifinal is 13-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal, who eliminated Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals, against World number 3 Alexander Zverev.

Croatia's Marin Cilic smashed 33 aces past seventh-seeded Andrey Rublev to reach his first French Open semi-final on Wednesday with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (10/2) win. With this, Cilic has become the first Croatian to reach all four Grand Slam semi-finals.

On the other hand, Ruud is the first Norwegian to win an ATP title and to reach an ATP Tour Masters 1000 final in the past. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 7 on April 4, 2022, making him the highest-ranked Norwegian player in history.

Rune, ranked 40, had knocked out fourth seed and 2021 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth round this time. The 19-year-old was bidding to become the first Danish man to reach the last four in Paris.

( With inputs from ANI )