Casper Ruud, last year’s runner-up, has secured his place in the quarterfinals of the French Open after defeating Chile’s Nicolas Jarry in a 7-6 (3), 7-5, 7-5 victory. The Norwegian fourth seed struggled to maintain control against the clay-court specialist Jarry, who led in the last two sets but was unable to convert his lead. Ruud will now face Danish sixth seed Holger Rune in a rematch of last year’s quarterfinal.
Ruud’s victory was hard-fought, with the first set seeing him waste a break advantage and pushed into a tiebreak, which he won comfortably. In the second set, he fell behind 4-1 but rallied back to win six of the remaining seven games to edge closer to victory. Jarry, taking part in his first last-16 singles match at a Grand Slam, did not give up and again took the first break in the third set.
Jarry’s big shots kept him in the contest, and the outcome might have been different had the match been played on a smaller court as no player would have wanted to be Ruud against such a huge first serve. Ruud acknowledged that it was probably the biggest clay court in the world, making the returns easier and safer.
Rune, Ruud’s next opponent, received a helping hand from the umpire in his match against Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo. They were tied at a set apiece early in the third when the point of contention happened. Cerundolo, who was serving at deuce, hit a forehand that skidded low at the baseline and quickly bounced a second time, which would have meant the point was his. However, Rune got his racket on the ball, sending it back over the net. At the same time, Cerundolo was saying “sorry” to apologize for the odd way his forehand made the ball skim across the clay. Chair umpire Kader Nouni was not immediately aware of the double-bounce, thought the ball was still in play and called Cerundolo for hindrance for talking during a point. That meant Rune got the point, and when he won the next one, too, he had a service break.
Cerundolo was unhappy with the umpire’s decision, stating that it was a clear double bounce, and he was mad at the umpire because he had to see it. Electronic line-calling is used at many tournaments to make line calls, but replays are not used to check things such as double bounces. Cerundolo also thought Rune could have ceded the point because of the double bounce. Rune said he felt sorry but added that this is tennis, and some umpires make mistakes.
Rune won the match 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7) to reach the quarterfinals for the second year in a row. In another quarterfinal, Alexander Zverev and Tomas Martin Etcheverry, both won in straight sets. Zverev beat Grigor Dimitrov 6-1, 6-4, 6-3, and Etcheverry won a tough first-set tiebreaker and cruised to a 7-6 (8), 6-0, 6-1 win over Yoshihito Nishioka.
Ruud’s victory over Jarry was hard-fought, and he acknowledged that he had to thank his team for pushing him in practice. He did the work and was physically ready for more. Ruud now faces Danish sixth seed Holger Rune in the quarterfinals, and it will be a rematch of last year’s quarterfinal.
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