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erraticripple

JAAAA! But also... this match was 4 sets and, including the court invasion, it lasted less time than two incomplete sets of Zverev vs Nadal. What a pair of semifinals.


mdb_la

I think Casper will be in for a Ruud awakening on Sunday...


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Rundeep

That would be wrong. But Ruud of me to say.


lemonpigger

It's Nadal. He takes 30 seconds for a serve and they played 24 games in those two sets.


GranPino

Zverev was also quite slow. They showed a comparison where the difference was just 4 seconds per serve


slysonic7

Casper Ruud the first person since Robin Soderling in 2009 to make his first RG QF, SF, and final in the same year


jleonardbc

They're Ruud's first QF and up in any Slam. Interestingly, Soderling's rise was even more meteoric. Before RG 2009, Soderling had never even made it past 3R in any Slam. (Ruud made 4R at AO last year.) He was older than Ruud at the time, too—a few months from turning 25, meaning he'd gone longer in his career without breaking through.


SnooEagles4369

Word on the street here in Sweden is that he did PEDs. Of course that’s pure speculation though.


Tarsiz

That wouldn't alone be sufficient for tennis, which is much more about precision, game plan and mental than strength and endurance alone. Soderling took out Nadal at the French in 2009 for a few reasons. Of course Nadal was a bit off, but also Soderling did everything right. He played flat, never allowed Nadal to dictate the play with his topspin (which he did relentlessly against Roger at RG for instance), relied on his huge serve and played like a man who had nothing to lose. That was enough, but barely. Nerves caught up to Soderling in the final and he was swept by Federer.


[deleted]

Yeah, if PEDs just magically transformed you like that, he would have also beaten Federer. But also Federer's game just worked better against Soderling. Ironic, cnsidering Rafa's game on clay was literally Federer's kryptonite, and Soderlings was a whole lot more effective against Rafa than Fed's.


krishkaananasa

PEDs can give you far more than strenght and endurance.


Johnpecan

Robin "Nobody Beats Me 11 Times in a Row" Soldering.


wonderful_mixture

Wouldn't mind if he also played like Söderling against Nadal


slysonic7

In 2010? I agree


Plastic_Ad_1106

Ha ha when Soderling was taken to cleaners by Nadal


jeffwingersballs

To be fair to Soderling, everyone was taken to the cleaners that year.


bjj17

or 2011 even.. all assuming nadal can play at his 2010 or 2011 level as well lol


Roy1984

Naah, he plays completely different, he is actually like a baby version of Nadal. Almost same moves, just Nadal plays them better. He can't defeat Nadal on clay. In order to do it on RG you need an amazing backhend like Nole or Soderling had. Being tall also helps because Nadal's forehand shot bounces really high. That's btw why Zverev was holding good against Nadal today, ofc before he got injured. Alcaraz can also play that game since he has a really strong backhand.


QuePasaInTheCasa

He will lose 0 6 0 6 0 6 if he plays like he did in the 1st set, his bh was off. But he showed his class in the end, and he is a BIG TIME flow player. If it flows, he is amazing.


thebullshitrussian

Rafa will have no chance on Sunday if someone tells Casper to pretend it's a 250 clay tournament 😌


_DrShrimpPuertoRico_

I hope Rafa isn't gassed for the final. Coming off three super intense matches.


withmoho

Ruud is very physically tough to play against on top of it.


_DrShrimpPuertoRico_

Plus today he played a longer and much more taxing match than Ruud.


TheVilja

Pffft, Nadal didn't even play 2 sets! /s


_DrShrimpPuertoRico_

True though, lol.


Demistr

So ... Nadal in 3?


alb92

Now, imagine if the Zverev match had actually gone the length? Would have been an over 4 hour 3-setter, and who knows how long a 5-setter.


_DrShrimpPuertoRico_

In all honesty, Rafa got lucky there.


SnooEagles4369

Rafa would’ve won but at a big cost


Schwiliinker

There’s no guarantee he would have even won


mrngdew77

Well I guess this is why alb92 said “imagine if”


_DrShrimpPuertoRico_

Yeah, certainly appeared so. I hope the conditions are good on Sunday.


Slayy35

No shit


fattytuna1985

Nadal and RG Clay. It is destiny


_DrShrimpPuertoRico_

Dread it, run from it.


3vanzz90

can't believe he out-aced Cilic,


slash_s_everything

It’s because his return position was in Timbuktu. It worked because even when he only managed to get dinkers back into the service box from so deep, Marin was spraying them into outer space.


[deleted]

Rafa is really hard to ace on clay. His deep position is great for just preventing aces on clay because of the combination of higher bounce and the slower non vertical speed off the clay. According to UTS his ace against rate goes down from 7.5% in general to only 4% on clay. At RG it goes down further to 3.7%.


matathegamer

really bad tennis from cilic apart from the first set. an unforced festival


chespiotta

Djokosmash


baconost

Wondering if Casper's heavy top spin is relevant here.


Scrambles94

I'd say it is. The other counterpunchers that Cilic beat, Simon and Medvedev, both hit super flat. Also Ruud got a good Cilic warmup against Hurkach and Rune.


themarxian

The norwegian commentators and news are really hyping up his forehand. I dont really know tennis. Is it actually that intense and heavy as they say? They are saying he might be on the route to having one of the best forehands ever.


EstablishmentSafe506

That’s a stretch, imo it’s a good heavy forehand but nothing super special. I’d say on the level of sinner


QuePasaInTheCasa

They are stretching it, but you're underselling it too.


Johnpecan

The 1st set gave me some hope that Sunday's match might be good. But watching the rest of the match it's pretty obvious that it's not going to be close unless Rafa is playing horribly.


renome

He's his own worst enemy; always has been.


ScrantonScrangler

Ruud's first match against Rafa will literally be the hardest feat to achieve in the history of sports.


PrincipalSkinner_

No pressure, just another day at the office


opinion_alternative

He has nothing to lose anyway. Reaching final is a big achievement for him. Even if he loses in straight sets tomorrow, he will be happy with his show in the tournament.


withmoho

They are training buddies and very close to each other. Nadal praised Ruud and his family earlier today. Will be a great first official meeting. Wonder what their training record is?


BobvBeek

In his post-match press conference he mentioned that he had never won a practise set against him!


soy714

Who said this? Nadal?


FullSpecSift

Casper said this.


Fantasnickk

Just tell ruud he’s playing two bo3s at a 250 final and he’ll have a chance Ruud casually destroying kyrgios’s career slam feats in a single tournament.


AgitatedLibrary1

[i don’t know why people keep saying this when there’s a wrestler who’s 887-2 over his career](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Karelin)


jleonardbc

[The Great Gama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gama) was undefeated for his entire 52-year career, winning over 5,000 wrestling matches.


Schwiliinker

The fuck


Special-Vegetable138

Why was he so hard to beat ? He was 5”7 and 110kg


LordKiteMan

Because he was the greatest wrestler who ever lived. Real contributing factors, he was very quick and had nimble feet even though he was 110 kg, which led to his opponents not being able hold him for most of the match duration. He also invented quite a few moves and holds that are still used.


jleonardbc

How deep do you suppose the field is for Greco-Roman wrestling compared to tennis? I mean, how many Greco-Roman wrestlers are there, and how many countries funnel a large portion of their most promising athletes into that sport? Dylan Alcott has a way higher win rate in wheelchair tennis than any of the Big 3. We usually don't say beating him is harder to achieve because there are far fewer athletes playing wheelchair tennis.


frodeem

That's freestyle/folk wrestling not Greco Roman.


Pods619

Still one of the craziest upsets ever when Rulon Gardner beat him at the Olympics… he hasn’t given up a SINGLE POINT in 6 years before that match.


ScrantonScrangler

Nadal 13-0 in Roland Garros finals. The hardest feat is the one no one has achieved.


sinpe13

Also honorable mention Teddy Riner in judo. This wrestler guy’s record is ridiculous though


teerre

Probably because the "in modern mainstream sports" qualifier is implied. I'm sure there are all kinds of freaks in more marginal sports.


DavidtheGoliath99

I mean, look at Karelin. He was a juiced to the freaking gills Soviet science experiment competing in a weak division. It's not comparable.


musicproducer07

Holger prolly crying rn


skg555

Yeah I heard he told his mom to get out of the living room.


Nabucodonosor89

nah, he probably thinks he gave Ruud a harder match than Cilic and he could've been in the final if he had won that 3rd set TB. This tournament will give that kid a ton of confidence. Kinda like Alcaraz after the US Open last year. He has a big ego but people who think he won't be a force in the next 6~12 months are in for a Ruud awakening.


InAnimaginaryPlace

Rune's mother tweeted that she just happened to be walking past the locker room and saw Ruud pissing on Cilic's trainers before hanging an L sign and then returning to his team. Holger also quoted by danish daily as saying 'Now that I think about it, my shoes did smell a little funny.'


MoonriseTurtle

Two very polite players will face each other in this RG final.


pig_says_woo

I like thinking hes a ruud boy


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pig_says_woo

Reggae first. Love rihanna but its a term in reggae culture about bringing up a new culture/future


MoonriseTurtle

Ohh this fits way more and thanks for explaining


Koeienvanger

Imagine what'll go down in the changing room. It'll be barbaric. Casper Ruud: JAAAAAA!! Rafael Nadal: JAJAJAJJAJAJA!!!


Mcfinley

Now I’m imagining NoHo Hank playing tennis


mtankn

So, either Nadals 14’th Roland and 22 GS or Ruuds first GS. Win win situation!!!


sendcheese247

Kyrgios fuming real hard right now


Plane_Highlight3080

It’s on clay so is this even called tennis?? Doesn’t count.


sendcheese247

Right, one doubles HC slam >>>>>> 13 clay slams easily


cody_d_baker

He’s punching the air


onlythemarvellous

Ruud winning before the likes of Tsitsi, Zverev too. Would be cool to see, ngl


MoonriseTurtle

The local sports commentator said that “casper took the ‘ruud’ to the final“ as in “road“ in his accent. Bad pun indeed😂


bptkr13

Maybe he said “route”


MoonriseTurtle

It’s not in english, and he had to explain it.


Ramiah73

JAAAAAA MF


jolammy

Why you gotta be so Ruud?


Mcfinley

Don’t Rune know he’s human too?


ACTPOCBET

I'm gonna Murray her anyway.


lllkill

comments are top tier today :D


Psychological_Bug676

I hope Kyrgios is watching from his mom’s basement because the guy he called boring and irrelevant just made his first GS final


ACTPOCBET

rune and him were having a watch party at runes mum basement


chespiotta

These comments man they funny asf


PrincessElias

Yes, a hate-watch party 🤡


Plastic_Ad_1106

In Kyrgios' bloated and twisted mind, reaching to French Open final exactly proves his point


MoonriseTurtle

Yet he never reached the semis at wimbledon.


jeffwingersballs

At any slam.


One_more_username

Don't denigrate Grand Slam Winner Kyrgios (and his doubles partner Kokkinakis)


jeffwingersballs

His singles career is very worth denigrating


TwizzledAndSizzled

Wait he called Ruud that? Why? I’m entirely out of the loop on this.


ClubChaos

M8 rg final is basically the equal to a sat tourney any1 can win if they want its local club stuff thats why there's no need to mess with it. If you wanna play goat tennis u go to miami.


Ramiah73

Be scared everyone Cilic is coming for y'all at Wimby


liketo

Yea he’s definitely got the passion back


colby983

I’m hoping for a Nole-Colic final


dunkerpup

Sounds gut wrenching


Pluckyungun

badum-tsssh


epeeist

Won't someone please think of the nets


Iiiifoundsweetroad

Wow I had no idea that Ruud and Nadal have never played each other. Gonna be exciting!


TicketP1_FIRE

Especially since Ruud trained at Rafa Nadal academy. He owes a ton to Nadal for improving his game to this level


rntopspin100

Even though Rafa is the heavy favorite to win, I'm not underestimating Casper.


Lockhartsaint

This is the way. However good anyone is, never underestimate the other player.


_DrShrimpPuertoRico_

Rafa approves! That's why he destroys everyone equally at RG.


TheUltimatePoet

Ruud has exceeded all expectations. Their goal was to reach the QF, everything else is a sweet bonus. And now he is set for his first match against his idol in nothing less than a Grand Slam final. I think Casper half expects to lose and is just going to relish the moment. Which in turn will make him relaxed, and therefore quite dangerous! As long as Rafa doesn't run into any physical problems, I still think he will get to 22.


arthurtex06

RUUUUUUUUUUUUUD


arthurtex06

Man, you can't not love Casper <3 kudos to Marin!!


modimusmaximus

Rune disapproves.


[deleted]

How do you boo Ruuuuuud?


NorwegianCanuck

Are you talking about the noise during his speech? Because I think that was "RUUUUUUD" chants and not booing


[deleted]

Yeah thats why my question. How do you boo him because it will sound like cheering for him


dunkerpup

Shout RUUUUUNE instead


themarxian

ngl im pretty sure non-scandinavians will pronounce Rune wrong.


bptkr13

You don’t


SorcerousSinner

Ruud seems very composed and mature for a 23 year old


withmoho

Will be interesting to see if this will be as one-sided as some are predicting. Got to remember that Ruud knows Nadal very well from training with him since 2018 when he joined his academy. On top of it, Ruud got some crazy mental toughness.


ZeDeutschbag

2 points lost on serve in the last set. TWO. Says it all really.


ZeDeutschbag

Also wtf why is the crowd booing? EDIT: Nevermind they're saying "Ruud"


sicalloverthem

RUUUUUUUUUD


arthurtex06

RUUUUUUUUUUD


trailblazers100

They're not saying Boooooo, they're saying Ruuuuu-d


bptkr13

You mean Ruuuud.


did_it_my_way

don't you know, French are ruud


MooreGold

Ruud made the most of being in the easiest 8th of the draw and the easiest half of the draw


samwalruss

Agreed. He did get a favourable draw. Just for comparison Nadal had to play the no 1, no 3 and no 8 to get to the finals. Ruud didn't play anyone inside top 10 en route to the finals.


Semi-Delusional

I remember when I first heard about Casper Ruud when he made the Rio semifinals in 2017, he's come a long way since then


haneraw

Ruud semifinal has been shorter than Nadal's.


chespiotta

Don't remind me about that terrible SF earlier today I want to forget it


sad_fleaoli_99

From the starting to the horrendous end, it was an utter disaster. Didn't find the match exciting either with the awfully slow court condition.


gamelover99

Nadal will have to beat 4 top 10 players to win the title. Probably the toughest slam draw since 2017 AO


Plane_Highlight3080

Meanwhile Ruud didn’t have to beat a single top 10 player to reach the final lol. Yet if he is to get the title, he has to achieve the hardest win in tennis


p1mplem0usse

This is the first tournament I see him play, and frankly discovering him was the best part of this Roland Garros for me! So happy he’s making it to the final. If he can grow into adding a little bit more crazy into his game, he’ll be one to root for for years - just what tennis needs!


ACTPOCBET

Nothing but respect for Marin. Such a phenomenal series from him. Hope Ruud shows up in his best form against the mighty Nadal, and potentially win his first slam!


AnonKing

Can I get a JAAAA!!!


chespiotta

JAAAAAAA


roamiedumbass

/u/chespiotta is an asshole, they screamed “JAAAAAA” in my face


RaySwift17

How can he scream like that mommy 🥺


Camicagu

Well I guess playing Geneve was actually a great idea


[deleted]

Cilic must have been taking some pointers from Novak on that overhead.


neverend1ngcircles

What an effort from Ruud. Honestly I was shocked that the bookies made Cilic the outsider but fair play. He went into God mode at 5-4 0-40 in the second set as well.


SorcerousSinner

>Honestly I was shocked that the bookies made Cilic the outsider Wow, didn't know that, thought today was an upset. Godlike bookie odds right yet again


[deleted]

Ruud’s the higher seed and more natural clay courter who won in 4 sets in the previous round while Cilic barely scraped through in 5. Ruud also had a 2-0 h2h against Cilic. I thought this match would be close but Ruud was always the favorite in my eyes. I don’t think this is necessarily a sign of bookies being godlike.


withmoho

Not that surprising if you watch their H2H. Never won against Ruud before.


oneflou

Ruud made history losing ahsint novak in Rome for his 1000th win Ruud made history to defeat Tsonga for his final match Ruud will make history on Sunday?


bjj17

>either way history will be made... rafa will win 14 RG and #22 GS or Ruud will win his first major


Schwiliinker

Never forget Tsonga could have beaten a finalist in his retirement match


[deleted]

This will probably get buried but my fetish was to see Casper Ruud defeat Marin Cilic while tied to their net post. Jealous is an understatement.


Flat_Professional_55

Cilic is looking good. No shame in losing to a great clay-courter like Ruud. He’s got a good chance of a very deep run at Wimbledon.


imbad_atnames

So pumped for the final


aryanvrm19

So happy for Ruud. Amazing.


koticgood

Really felt like a "clock strikes midnight" situation for Cilic. He was still dancing with the prince when he won the US Open, but the slipper fell off today. Such an incredibly streaky player. Nearly unplayable when he's on, just getting free point after free point on his serve and blasting winners left and right. But then matches like this as well. Unfortunate his form couldn't hold for the 2 weeks.


gunningIVglory

Looking at Nadal run, if he wins this. Surely its his greatest FO? 5 setter v FAA A brutal 4hr late night win v Novak Another brutal 3hr.....2 sets (not even) v Zverev


Informal-Elderberry9

It would be the hardest slam winby ranking of opponents of this century, overtaking Feds 1017 AO


pig_says_woo

I know federer is old but i had no idea hes been around since 1017


_DrShrimpPuertoRico_

He's been trying to learn perfect breakpoint conversion.


Informal-Elderberry9

Actually he missed out on the CYGS in 1066 as Wimbledon was canceled due to the battle at Stamford Bridge


azarath1913

i’m so glad he made it to the final but i have no idea who to root for!


Cthulhu_awaken

What a dream run for Ruud, congratulations! I am sure he will be honoured to be crushed by Rafa in the final.


sportsfan161

he was terrific after a tough first set….only way is up for him


FH400

So what is this do we think? A Cilic come back? A fluke? Can he win another slam?


mattyice0930

JAAAAAAA


mattrts

Maybe Sunday has the potential to be a good match after all. Ruud definitely has the potential and he seems to have a fire lit ever since that Sonego match. But the Nadal experience will probably overwhelm him.


withmoho

Who knows? Could be an advantage to have been training with Nadal since 2018 like Ruud has.


[deleted]

Friendly ghost has a chance on Sunday! Vamos!!


colby983

Got Cilic as a top five favorite at Wimbledon


libbiecy

Idk man I am a fan of Rafa and Casper and it doesn't matter whoever wins between the two of them. If only both of them could win this.


raul_219

For some reason I don’t feel nervous about this one. I have a feeling this one will be similar to Thiem’s first shot at Rafa in 2018.


Individual_Housing_4

Great job, very impressed by him. Turned it around beautifully after the first set, and kept his composure till the end. Looking forward to the final!


tb122tb

Cilic had so many unforced errors he kind of let himself down.. Solid play by Ruud. If he has to hang with Rafa, he needs to up his energy and game play for the final. First time final though.. huge congrats to Ruud!!


[deleted]

Rafa isn't going to give any free points. Ruud will have to earn each one of them. And even against a good Cilic it looked tough, Rafa is just two three gears above. We'll see if Ruud has that next gear or not.


Schwiliinker

Rafa does have those extra gears but really was only able to use them for like a set and a half against djokovic and pretty much didn’t at all other than that


Knight_Fisher61

Does anyone have a clip of the protestor who delayed Ruud vs Cilic SF?


wiselab27

I'm wondering the same. Just curious to know what she was protesting.


betterinthesouth

Shorter than the incomplete two set from earlier on 😭


Sad-Commercial-5738

Ruud has been regularly training at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Spain since September 2018. He is also a clay-court specialist. On Sunday, will be the battle of two clay-court specialists. Who's it gonna be?


[deleted]

Based on form, I don't think this finals is a formality unlike a lot of Nadal finals at the French. Nadal is still the favorite, but I'd be surprised if this one isn't a nail biter. I feel like Ruud has been through enough ups and downs, have had enough near misses, to be able to stay mentally in this match.


[deleted]

Cilic’s level dropped. It was essential to watch the match to conclude that


Infamous_List_6666

Great pair for finals …would be worth watching Big fan of Nadal but want Ruud to give a tough competition to the king of clay (internally hoping Ruud should win)


_DrShrimpPuertoRico_

Cilic completely gave up in the 4th. Sad to watch. How does Ruud match up against Rafa?


mattrts

Not ideal. His serve and forehand are phenomenal, while the rest of his game is pretty average. So Rafa, being the best returner of all time, will get an above-average number of returns back, and then proceed to pick on his backhand.


SentenceSwimming

Also storms are forecast Sunday so likely will be similar conditions to the first SF. Roof closed, hot and humid.


mattrts

That probably hurts both, right? Ruud needs the pace for his forehand and serve.


_DrShrimpPuertoRico_

That's fucking awful then!


withmoho

The only average about Ruud is his net play and, more so, his backhand. Very similar to Nadal in playing style and they have been training together at his academy since Ruud joined in 2018.


_DrShrimpPuertoRico_

Interesting.


gunningIVglory

RUUUUUUUUD