GENEVA: Casper Ruud made it back into the Geneva Open final with a close-fought 7-6 (7-2), 7-5 victory over Reilly Opelka on Friday to maintain his impressive form ahead of Roland-Garros.

Ruud is the defending champion on the Swiss clay and is now one match away from strolling into next week’s French Open with the Geneva title under his belt once again.

The 28-man tournament serves as a timely tune-up for Paris and the second Grand Slam of the year.

Norwegian world number eight Ruud faced a tough test in the towering serve of US world number 18 Opelka, who at 2.11 metres is the joint-tallest player ever on the tour.

Opelka served up his first double fault on the first break point of the contest to leave Ruud serving for the match. The 23-year-old won it with an ace to seal the semi-final in 90 minutes on the 3,000-capacity centre court.

Ruud will face Portugal’s Joao Sousa, ranked 79 in the world, in the final. The 33-year-old beat French veteran Richard Gasquet 6-2, 6-2 in Friday’s second Geneva semi-final.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2022