It was a fast and easy start from the 20th seed in Croatian Marin Cilic with the opening set lead. However, his momentum quickly went downhill when Casper Ruud from Norway fought back at 1-1 apiece after the break before Ruud pulled off further away from Cilic comfortably that secured his French Open final spot towards the finish line. The final score is 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.
Marin Cilic’s fairytale run has just came to an end. He got the ball rolling for a start with the early lead but then fell off a cliff ever since when he just couldn’t find the consistency to stay in this fight. Not only he was gutted to be held short while making some lost time during the next set, but he was blown away so easily through the 3rd & 4th sets that marked his exit out of the Final 4. It’s good to see him being back to his best though at age 33, having last made the grand slam finals back in the 2018 Australian Open where he was runner-up to Roger Federer.
And on Casper Ruud, take a bow as he will gear up for his first ever grand slam final appearance tomorrow v Rafa Nadal. He never looked out of place even though Ruud couldn’t bridge that gap to Cilic earlier in the first set. But it’s all about the finish where Ruud stood out as the better player from last night. The patience & response he saw right into Cilic’s game helped the Norwegian deny him a 2-0 lead, as well as tie at 1-1 before Ruud proved too good to wrap this up just under the three-hour mark.
