15:40
Nadal 4-1 Ruud
Ruud boldly fends off the first of three game balls for Nadal, resolutely sinking the forehand in forward motion. After that, however, the Spaniard closes the game because the Norwegian does not hit a backhand cleanly.
15:39
Nadal 3-1 Ruud
Now Ruud is looking for the initiative, then plays the forehand stop – but not well enough. Nadal is there in time and pushes his forehand down the line.
15:38
Nadal 3-1 Ruud
Nadal doesn’t know how to convince completely at the moment, but the experienced Spaniard plays it cleverly. And Ruud can’t get rid of his nervousness.
15:36
Nadal 3-1 Ruud
The Scandinavian made two mistakes in a row and was suddenly faced with a breakball again. In the following rally, the Mallorcan works very patiently and practically waits for the opponent’s mistake, which brings him the break to 3:1.
15:35
Nadal 2-1 Ruud
And Ruud gains more and more confidence in his forehand, which now again gives him the point and a cue ball. But the 23-year-old doesn’t know how to use it.
15:34
Nadal 2-1 Ruud
Nadal started so well, totally dominating two games. And now the left-hander is making mistake after mistake and has now trumped his opponent in terms of unforced errors.
15:30
Nadal 2-1 Ruud
What does Ruud draw from his competitor’s phase of weakness? The Norwegian now serves well, immediately follows up and executes with the forehand.
15:30
Nadal 2-1 Ruud
The first serve is not coming at all at the moment. Nadal lurches. Ruud doesn’t have to do anything at all and can’t even use the first break chance himself. But then the Spaniard gives up his service with a slight forehand error. Only 2:1 – everything back in line!
15:27
Nadal 2-0 Ruud
Oh, another double fault! What’s suddenly going on with Nadal? Voltage drop after the break? In any case, Ruud sniffs the immediate re-break without much effort.
15:26
Nadal 2-0 Ruud
The first two unforced mistakes of the match both now make in quick succession. After that, Nadal makes the first double mistake. 15:30!
15:25
Nadal 2-0 Ruud
Nadal is in command from the start and wants to give the opponent the feeling that there is nothing to get today. And Ruud already realizes that he has to do something extraordinary. And that kind of thing usually leads to a lot of errors.
15:23
Nadal 2-0 Ruud
But not the second! Ruud courageously seeks his way to the net and falls into a trap. Nadal plays the forehand passing ball briefly cross and gets the early break!
15:22
Nadal 1-0 Ruud
Now Ruud succeeds in winning the first stroke. The Norwegian fends off a break chance with the forehand.
15:21
Nadal 1-0 Ruud
The record champion also wins the longest rally of the match so far. Nadal looks focused and determined. Whenever the opportunity arises, the 36-year-old looks for the way forward, succeeds with the smash and gets two break points.
15:19
Nadal 1-0 Ruud
Even as a receiver, Nadal initially retains the initiative, attacks with a backhand longline and sets the volley stop with the backhand sensitively.
15:17
Nadal 1-0 Ruud
There’s nothing else Ruud can get in this game. Nadal mostly determines the rallies, exerts pressure and forces the mistakes. At 15, the Mallorcan wins his first game.
15:15
Nadal 0-0 Ruud
For the first time, the Norwegian, seeded 8th, causes difficulties for his opponent. Nadal has no suitable answer to the forehand longline. His emergency strike sails off.
15:14
Nadal 0-0 Ruud
Afterwards Nadal unpacks the backhand stop. It fits well and the path for Ruud is far too far from behind the baseline.
15:12
1 sentence
Now Nadal opens the final. The first serve comes straight away. A first longer rally develops immediately. The Spaniard employs the competitor on the backhand side. But Ruud makes the mistake with his forehand.
15:08
Ruud at the French Open
At Roland Garros in 2017, Ruud took a first run and failed to qualify. The following year, the northern European overcame the three qualifying hurdles and made it into the second round. At the last three editions of the French Open, the 23-year-old secured a place in the main draw and was always eliminated in the third round. So, over the past two weeks, Ruud has soared to new heights. At the beginning he ended the career of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sentences. After that there were no problems against Emil Ruusuvuori. But that should remain the only match without losing a set. Most of the work was demanded of him by Lorenzo Sonego over five sentences. After that it was always four rounds – against Hubert Hurkacz, Holger Rune and Marin Čilić.
15:05
Entry and coin toss
Our protagonists have just entered the Court Philippe-Chatrier to face each other on the tennis court for the first time. After a few steps of preparation, you meet with the British chair umpire James Keothavong to vote at the net. The coin falls in favor of Nadal, who decides to serve. Then both play a little.
15:03
Ruud 2022
Ruud has won two titles this season – in February at the 250cc in Buenos Aires and most recently in May at the 250cc in Geneva (both on clay, of course). In between, the right-hander played his first Masters final at the beginning of April, which he lost to Carlos Alcaraz on the hard court in Miami. Immediately afterwards he climbed to number 7, his highest position in the world rankings to date, and is currently ranked 8th. Regardless of today’s outcome, the Norwegian will take sixth place in the coming week. By the way, Nadal climbs from 5 to 4 – and if he wins today, he will pass Alexander Zverev in 3rd place.
14:56
First Grand Slam final for Ruud
Casper Ruud is contesting his first Grand Slam final today and is thus competing against a legend in his living room. The Norwegian has to adjust to the fact that the spectators are on the opponent’s side. But in terms of an exciting and longest possible match, the Scandinavian can of course also count on sympathy. At least Ruud is considered a clay court specialist and has played nine of his eleven finals on the ATP tour on this surface. And of the eight tournament victories, seven came on the red ashes.
14:47
The way of Nadal
In Roland Garros, the Spaniard, who was ranked 5th, started with three smooth three-set wins against Jordan Thompson, Corentin Moutet and Botic van de Zandschulp. Nadal struggled against Félix Auger-Aliassime in the round of 16. The tough wrestling lasted almost four and a half hours and went over five sets. This was followed by the giant duel against Novak Djokovic, which the Mallorcan won in four rounds. That also lasted more than four hours. In the semifinals, Nadal benefited from Alexander Zverev’s injury.
14:38
Nadal 2022
And that’s not all. Nadal is hardly at a loss for a record. He has most of the Grand Slam titles in his account anyway. Number 22 could follow today. The Spaniard has already been successful in all four majors and has won a total of 91 tournaments. He got three of them in a row at his splendid start to the current tennis year – the 250 in Melbourne, the Australian Open and the 500 in Acapulco. His fourth consecutive win was denied by Taylor Fritz in the Indian Wells final and a rib injury forced him to sit out the game. But the Masters tournaments in Madrid and Rome were enough as a warm-up program to get in shape in time.
14:28
Monsieur Roland Garros
Is anyone still surprised that Rafael Nadal is once again in the final of the French Open? Injury problems and chronic foot pain do not deter the king of clay courts. The Spaniard always finds his way back to his top form in an incredibly short time. And in Roland Garros, the now 36-year-old always shows his best side anyway. As the record champion of this tournament, the Mallorcan is in the final for the 14th time. The left-hander has all won the previous 13 – the first, by the way, right when he first took part in 2005. Monsieur Roland Garros has lost a miserable three matches in all those years on the pitch. The man is appearing here for the 18th year in a row and has now won 111 games. Rafa Nadal and the French Open – that’s a very extraordinary relationship full of superlatives.
14:18
bon jour!
Welcome to the French Open! The crowning glory of the two weeks of Roland Garros is the men’s final between Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud, which is scheduled to start around 3:00 p.m.