Sleek Casper Ruud returned to the French Open final for the second year in a row by defeating Germany’s 22nd seed Alexander Zverev 6-3 6-4 6-0 on Friday in a clash between two of the world’s best hitting players to face Novak Djokovic in the final. Who won 22 Grand Slam titles.
Last year’s runner-up Ruud exchanged early breaks with Zverev before turning up the heat on a warm evening on Court Philippe Chatrier with some powerful forehands to go up 5-2 on his way to winning the first set.
Zverev, who played in his third consecutive semi-final at Roland Garros, where he injured his ankle at the end of the season last year, missed a chance to take control early in the next set and found himself in trouble as fourth seed Ruud snatched another break in the seventh game.
Ruud consolidated his lead in the match and continued to control the exchange of balls from the baseline to frustrate Zverev, who made a lot of mistakes in the next set, before making his way strongly to the third Grand Slam final in the last five years, starting with the 2022 Roland Garros final.
