French Open: Alexander Zverev concedes a clear defeat against Casper Ruud in the semifinals of Roland-Garros

“I’m very disappointed today. You can lose, but I wasn’t there at all. That’s the big difference from the previous matches, I was way below my average,” admitted Alexander Zverev at the press conference. “I didn’t have a chance, it wasn’t my day.”

In addition, the Hamburger suffered from a “small strain” on his thigh, as he admitted after the match. “I don’t want to take anything away from him, but I’ve had a lot of problems.”

Casper Ruud demonstrated right from the start why he was in the final last year and why he is one of the best in Roland-Garros this year.

The 24-year-old took the first service game from Alexander Zverev and then pulled away to 5: 2. The man from Oslo benefited above all from his lower error rate and the somewhat more callous behavior with the big points. After 49 minutes, the Norwegian secured the lead in the set.

Zverev now tried to build up more pressure. “Sascha plays more intensively and aggressively, I like that better”, praised Eurosport expert Boris Becker. However, the Hamburger continued to struggle to take advantage of his chances.

When the Olympic champion had to give up his service game to make it 3: 4 in the second set, Ruud had used three of seven breakballs. Zverev’s record at this point: one out of nine!

Zverev leaves chance after chance

“Unfortunately, he didn’t use his chances. When you have a breakball, you have to act more aggressively, force it,” Brother said Mischa Zverev at Eurosport interim balance.

Only: Ruud just continued where he left off in the third set. The Scandinavian opened the passage with another break. “Casper plays tactically very cleverly, is well adjusted,” Becker analyzed the strong performance of the fourth in the world rankings.

Zverev, on the other hand, was no longer able to get a foot in the door. Rather, the third set began with two lost service games and a 0:3 deficit. More than a preliminary decision.

Ruud follows his strategy steadfastly

Ruud played his game stoically and kept putting high balls down for Zverev, which he missed with bitter regularity or returned in such a way that the point went to the Norwegian.

After 2:09 hours, the Paris adventure was over for the Olympic champion: Ruud closed the sack with his third match point and cleared his third Grand Slam final.

Becker makes it clear: “Zverev again a world-class player”

Zverev, for whom the semi-final was a great success due to the poor results in the run-up to the classic, made too many mistakes. Both the unforced errors (37:19) and the so-called forced errors (28:18) spoke clearly against the German.

“Today it was one game too many. But Sascha is back, a world-class player again and in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam tournament. He has to be optimistic because the famous glass is half full,” emphasized Becker.

“I wanted to go out there and play without too much emotion, not thinking too much, without pressure. I played very well. Everything went my way from the first point to the last. I’m very happy to have won the match.” explained Ruud.

Ruud looks at the final: “I’m underdog again”

“It’s going to be tough. Last year it was against Rafa, this year it’s against Novak. What can you say? These are two of the toughest opponents in the history of tennis,” the number four in the world dared to look ahead to the final.

He will be “the underdog again,” said Ruud. “And I’ll try again to play without feeling too much. I’ll just try to enjoy smiling as much as I can.”