Casper Ruud faced his most challenging opponent at this year's Roland Garros so far, but he handled the challenge perfectly.
World No. 35, Nicolas Jarry was one of the highest-ranked unseeded players in the ATP draw and he's been playing some sensational tennis recently, winning the title in Geneva and beating two-time defending champion Casper Ruud along the way.
Therefore, the Norwegian knew that he had to be cautious and extremely patient against the tall Chilean. In his third-round match, Ruud had to battle some early frustration, but he had to avoid that against Jarry.
Ruud faced five break points already in the first game of the match, and getting broken against Jarry would be a real disaster for him. Thanks to his fighting spirit, the Norwegian saved all and even broke his opponent in his very first service game.
But Jarry fought back when he broke back in the fifth game and eventually take the first set into a tie-break. But it was the Norwegian who played better tennis in the tie-break, and avoided getting broken, to win it 7-3.
The next two sets were great at times from Jarry, but he'll certainly wake up from dreams for quite some time after how they finished. He was up 4-1 in the second set, with one more break point to go up by two breaks.
Yet, the Chilean didn't use his chances and you don't have to extend another offer to the fourth seed. Ruud used every single one of his opponent's mistakes and won the second set 7-5 despite losing for the major part of it.
The third set was very similar. Once again, Jarry got up by a break as he led 4-2, and 40-15 on his serve. But the Chilean lost his advantage once again, and once again Ruud was superb when it mattered making sure the match won't be longer than it needed to be.
After three hours and 22 minutes, the Norwegian won the match 7-6(3), 7-5, 7-5 to reach the quarterfinals of the 2023 Roland Garros. Up next, he can play in a Scandinavian clash if the sixth-seeded Holger Rune beats Francisco Cerundolo.
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