Casper Ruud battles past Nicolas Jarry to reach French Open quarter-finals and potential Holger Rune clash

ByJames Walker-Roberts

Updated 05/06/2023 at 14:54 GMT

Last year's French Open runner-up Casper Ruud moved a step closer to a second successive final in Paris as he beat Nicolas Jarry in straight sets. Fourth seed Ruud battled hard for the win as he advanced to the quarter-finals, where he will face either Holger Rune or Francisco Cerundolo. Rune and Ruud are the only top-10 seeds left on their half of the draw.

Casper Ruud reached the French Open quarter-finals with a hard-fought victory over Nicolas Jarry.

Fourth seed Ruud was beaten by Jarry in Geneva just 10 days ago, but this time came out on top 7-6(3) 7-5 7-5.

Ruud was a break down in the second and third sets but showed his fighting quality in the face of a powerful hitting display from Jarry to advance to the last eight.

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Ruud, who made the French Open final last year, will next face Holger Rune or Francisco Cerundolo.

Rune and Ruud met at the quarter-final stage in 2022, with Ruud winning a heated four-set contest.

Reflecting on his win over Jarry, Ruud said: "It’s difficult. His serve is great and he plays aggressively. I’m happy that I had enough space to work with. This is the biggest clay court that we have.

"I managed to do well, down a break in the second and third, but thought about it and stayed in it. I was happy to neutralise his serve and win the most important points."

After making two Grand Slam finals last year, Ruud has not shown his best form for much of this season, but this was arguably his finest display of 2023 so far.

The fourth seed made an impressive start to the match as he fended off five break points in the opening game and then broke to lead 2-0.

But Jarry soon responded to get back on serve and there was little to separate the pair until the tie-break.

Ruud won four of the opening five points and then three in a row to clinch the set.

Jarry hit back well in the second set as he found his range with his powerful forehand and broke to love to lead 3-1.

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The Chilean moved further clear in the next game as he fired down two aces in a row to hold from 15-40 down.

However, Ruud continued to battle and got back on serve in the seventh game.

A missed smash from Jarry saw Ruud break again and he closed out the set despite pressure on his serve.

Impressive Ruud takes back-to-back sets against Jarry

The third set followed a similar pattern to the second as Jarry’s hard ball striking earned him a break in the sixth game.

But again Jarry couldn’t stay ahead as Ruud hit back in the next game.

Even though Ruud was on the back foot in many rallies he continued to stay in the points and broke again to lead 6-5.

The fourth seed closed out an impressive win in the next game as Jarry went wide.

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