By Kingsley Elliot Kaye
The second Roland Garros semi-final was a double-face match. In a confrontation between two players whose game revolves around their forehand, especially the inside-out, and relentless pacing and footwork, it was the younger who prevailed in the long run, and quite vehemently, 3-6 6-4 6-2 6-2. Ruud’s high rotation spin was expected to be tougher to master than the flatter groundstrokes of Cilic’s previous opponents, Rublev and Medvedev, but it was some surprise that the Croatian’s capacity to move in and reap comfortable points off his forehand came unstuck after losing the second set.
”I played a really solid first set and served really well and mixed it up nicely. I played aggressive off the ground. I have to say that somewhere there in the second set, you know, just things started to turn around a bit. At the end of the second set, start of the third, there was just a little bit of a difference,” admitted Cilic
The first six games went with serve. Although Cilic had to save two break points after missing two smashes and throwing in a double fault in the fourth game, he ended up holding serve well supported by his mighty and angled first service.
Ruud instead missed two first services at the start of the seventh game, and Cilic rose to 0-30 with his effective aggression on the Norwegian’s second service, a little too tame. Then he adjusted his return to the first serve of Ruud as well and ripped the break in a flash.
Serving for a 5-3 lead he suddenly lost control of his forehand, and had to save another break point, but he got away with it. An ace and a winning serve consolidated his margin.
In spite of the odd unforced error, Cilic was overpowering Ruud, taking command from the first shot, also with his weaker groundstroke, his backhand. He reached set point on Ruud’s service and danced leftward to hit his inside-out forehand and seal the first set.
From the very start of the second set Ruud appeared resolved to swing the script around, raising first serve speed and length as well as trying to find depth and greater lift off both groundstrokes so as to move his opponent to and fro.
“I was too defensive. I figured I had to step up a little bit, counterattack and hit faster shots,” said Ruud.
The strategy yielded revenues when Cilic concentration slipped in the second game and he actually lost service, too often missing the target off his forehand.
“It was unfortunately a little bit of a drop in the level comparing to these last 10 days. It might be due to just a little bit more emotional drainage from the last match,” Cilic said, while giving due credit to his opponent.
“And, you know, today it was obviously a big task to play Casper, who is definitely in great form.”
However Cilic instantly rebooted and Ruud had to stave off a break point in the third game by stealing his opponent’s tactics: service out wide to set up a forehand winner. A dropshot did the rest of the job and he raced to 3-0.
Ruud was able to keep up consistency and served for the set 5-4.
He tightened up, though, and missed three forehands. He had to save two breakpoints with forehand winners to recover to deuce. Then an ace, his fifth in the set followed by a backhand down the line and he was back even.
Cilic started the third set still trying mounting up pressure but too many errors were seeping in. Then came the rally of the match. Cilic finalized constant pressure with a first forehand inside-in and a second one inside-out, but the Norwegian erected a solid defence and then fired a backhand winner down the line. Cilic robustly saved second break point, but immediately conceded another unforced error. When he hit a smash way out or the first time in the match Ruud was leading.
Cilic’s tennis was now longer flawless. Mental energy was thinning and fatigue was eroding his footwork. Ruud took a second break with an exquisite sliced backhand passing shot.
The match was most unexpectedly interrupted due to a court invasion by a young woman who chained herself to the net. The incident brought no damage, yet some concerns may be raised about the efficiency of the French Open security services.
When the match was resumed, Cilic earned two break points to get back into the set but failed to convert. It felt like the last fling.
Ruud served at 5-1. He missed his first two set points and had to erase a break point on the way to settling the matter 6-2.
He drummed on with such momentum at the kick off of the fourth set: he first sprinted after a dropshot and earned a break point, then he broke after landing a fabulous inside-in forehand directly off the return.
By now Ruud was returning Cilic’s blunted and no longer angular serve with ease. He conquered three break points for a double break and converted the second when a Cilic slammed a dejected forehand into the net.
Shortly Ruud was serving for the match. He was by no means overwhelmed by tension and held to love, with an ace, a domain in which he had most surprisingly outclassed Cilic, 16-10, proving his worth off return as well.
“It was a great match from my side. I didn’t start very well but Marin played very well in the first set. I was able to break him in the second set and that got it going. From that game I played some of the best of this year, playing aggressive, serving well. I’m super happy with my performance,” Ruud reflected.
Asked about his next match, against Nadal, whose academy he joined in 2018 he said: “Playing against Nadal will be a very special moment for me, and a little bit for him as well. He’s played so many finals, but at least he’s playing a student from his Academy this time. It’s going to be fun.”
