PARIS: Eighth seed Casper Ruud battled past teenager Holger Rune 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-3 on Wednesday night to reach the French Open semi-finals and become the first Norwegian to reach this stage in any Grand Slam.
He will play Croatian 20th seed Marin Cilic in the semi-final.
"Of course a lot of nerves all day to get going. It's tough to find calm and peace," Ruud said. "I started great but Holger fought back and raised his level."
"I had played him three times already, now fourth, I guess I know a little bit how he plays. He plays fearless, goes for big shots."
"It's a big day for Norwegian tennis," Ruud said. "I will use tomorrow to prepare. These matches are the ones you are dreaming about playing."
Marin Cilic completed his set of Grand Slam semi-finals by knocking out No.7 seed Andrey Rublev 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(10/2) in a marathon showdown.
Cilic, a US Open champion in 2014 and a former runner-up at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, had never made it past the quarters in Paris but has now made the semis or better at all four majors.
Rublev clinched a 57-minute opening set before Cilic raced to take the next two. The world No.7 fought hard to force a decider, in which he saved a match point when serving at 4-5. Rublev had a chance to break for 6-5 but some clutch serving from Cilic got the Croatian out of trouble as he held for 6-5 in an eight-minute game. The match fittingly went to a deciding tiebreak, which Cilic valiantly snatched to punch his ticket to the last four.
Rublev has now lost all five Grand Slam quarter-finals he has reached so far in his career. Agencies
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