A range of unforced errors condemned Marin Cilic (33), a 1.98 m giant who ended up compromising against Casper Ruud (23), a Norwegian, one of the revelations of the course, who reached his first final of a major.
Ruud handled himself as he usually does on the gravel: he was solid, especially at the back of the track, and just let the Croatian giant do. Cilic, the consummate server, 2014 US Open champion and finalist at the 2018 Australian Open and 2017 Wimbledon, got tangled up in his own tennis.
Cilic made 56 unforced errors (to Ruud's 21) and was never able to unravel the Norwegian's web. Gripped by his generation –Cilic's best years coincided with the great times of the Big Four, then embodied by Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray–, the Croatian is now suffering the onslaught of the Next Gen, among whom Ruud is already appearing, and also the appearance of the new teenagers, talents like Alcaraz, Rune, Sinner or Korda. Ruud had handed him the first set, but then he took command of the match, winning 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.
Ruud has broken all his ceilings in this edition of Roland Garros, where he was in the easiest part of the table and benefited from the elimination in the round of 16 of the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, fourth in the world and finalist of the last edition, which paved the way to the semi-finals.
Against Cilic, 20 in the world, executioner of the number 2 in the ranking, the Russian Daniil Medvedev, Ruud took time to come into play and gave up the first set, before recovering the initiative. The Norwegian ended up imposing his mastery on clay, where he is one of the tennis players who has won the most in recent seasons. Between 2020 and 2022 he has 65, more than any other player, far from the second, Tistsipas, who has 51.
Ruud often trains at the Rafa Nadal academy in Mallorca, advised by Toni. The game, interrupted for a few minutes by a spontaneous attack that tied itself to the net and forced the players to enter the locker room, did not change its sign.
The Croatian, who was looking to play the final of the only major where he has not yet done so, was not able to impose his game and saw how the Norwegian surpassed him.
