Rafael Nadal Will Face Casper Ruud in French Open Final

The 23-year-old Norwegian knocked off Marin Čilić to advance to face his idol at Roland-Garros.

Paris (AP) — Casper Ruud has become the first Norwegian man to reach a Grand Slam singles final by eliminating 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Čilić 3–6, 6–4, 6–2, 6–2 at Roland Garros.

The eighth-seeded Ruud is 23 and never had been past the fourth round at any major tournament until now.

His father, Christian, was a professional tennis player from 1991 to 2001.

Ruud has shown that he can play well on clay, with tour highs of seven titles and 66 match wins on the surface since the start of 2020.

He now faces the toughest test there ever has been on clay, going up against 13-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal in the final on Sunday. Ruud has trained at Nadal’s tennis academy in Spain and refers to the 36-year-old Spaniard as his idol.

Ruud returned Čilić’s big serve well enough to break him five times and even hit more aces, 16-10. Cilic had 33 aces in the quarterfinals Wednesday.

The semifinal was interrupted for more than 10 minutes in the third set by a climate activist who attached herself to the net and knelt on the court.