Ruud wins 55 shot point, beats Khachanov and reaches US Open final

NEW YORK (AP) — Casper Ruud grabbed a 55-shot point to end the first set of his US Open semifinals while building a huge lead over Karen Khachanov and going 7-6 (5), 6-2 , 5 claimed -7, 6-2 victory on Friday that put him in his second Grand Slam title match of the year.

As it ended, the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium yelled his name: “Ruuuuud!” – and it sounded more like booing than saluting.

Ruud, the runner-up to Rafael Nadal at the French Open in June, is a 23-year-old Norwegian who can move up the rankings from 7th to 1st by winning the championship at Flushing Meadows on Sunday.

“Of course I was very happy after Roland Garros,” said Ruud, “but also humble enough to believe that this could be my only final of my career.”

Well, here he is, just a few months later in this phase again. His opponent in Sunday’s final will be No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain or No. 26 Frances Tiafoe of the United States. Like Ruud, Alcaraz went into Friday with a chance to replace 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev at the top of the leaderboard after the tournament.

All four men’s semifinalists made their debuts in New York that round. That hadn’t happened at the event since 1881 when it absolutely had to: It was the inaugural edition of what was then the US Championships.

Ruud is coached by his father, former professional player Christian, and the game plan worked perfectly for most of the day against 31st-seeded Khachanov, a 6ft-6 Russian with a powerful serve holding Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios, eliminated five sets in the quarterfinals.

To soften the impact of Khachanov’s serves, Ruud would stand well behind the baseline to come back and then try to dominate exchanges from the baseline. Ruud used flawless footwork for side-to-side defense and found openings to deliver deep groundstrokes that could end points.

He came up with the occasional highlight, like the over-the-shoulder volley winner that gave him a 6-3 lead in the tie-break. Moments later, the point of the game came, on Ruud’s third opportunity to finish that set. It lasted 75 seconds and contained 19 more shots than the second-longest rally of that entire two weeks, culminating with a down-the-line backhand from Ruud, who drew a netted forehand in response.

Dad smiled. His child raised both arms and lifted two fingers of his right hand. Might have just been the index finger to signify the number 1 that may soon be next to his name.

Khachanov couldn’t recall a 55-shot rally in his career and while he hated losing it, he was initially encouraged afterwards by the way he played at the end of the set.

“I felt so pumped that we had this long rally, we both moved,” he said. “I felt like, ‘OK, it’s painful to lose a set with that point.’ On the other hand, I was like, ‘OK, now we’re moving a lot, let’s move on.’

Ruud broke to 2-1 in the second set and was on his way there. After Khachanov rose late in the third round to make things a little more intriguing, Ruud went 2-1 up in the fourth and ripped a down-the-line forehand winner from the double alley.

This is the latest step in a real step forward for Ruud in Grand Slam play.

He came into that year with a record of just 14-13 in the sport’s premier events – 3-4 in New York, where his best performance to date was a third-round appearance in 2020 – and then had to sit out the Australian Open in January after spraining his ankle in training the day before the tournament started.

Since then? He’s 13-2 in the majors in 2022.