French Open 2022 Archives

Rafael Nadal rises in the latest ATP Rankings after French Open triumph

LONDON: The Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who outclassed Norway’s Casper Ruud in the French Open final 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 to lift the 14th Roland Garros and record-extending 22nd Grand Slam trophy last week, moved up in the latest ATP Rankings.

The Spaniard climbed a place up in the rankings to claim the fourth rank following an incredible season. He has now levelled with his countryman Carlos Alcaraz – winning four titles in 2022.

The 36-years-old Spaniard is the oldest champion in the history of the clay-court event and it is also the first instance Nadal won the Australian and French Open in the same year.

It's a career-high ranking for Casper Ruud (#6) and Holger Rune (#28).

Well done, boys! 👏 @PepperstoneFX | #ATPRankings pic.twitter.com/2WzEiXFc8p

— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 6, 2022

The French Open 2022 Runner-up Ruud, on the other hand, also improved his rankings as he moved two places up to claim his career-high sixth spot.

Ruud, who became the first Norwegian to reach the final at a Grand Slam, enjoyed a prolific French Open campaign as he defeated Lorenzo Sonego, Hubert Hurcakz, and Marin Cilic on his way to the final before losing to the eventual champion Nadal in a one-sided affair.

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Nadal wins record-extending 14th French Open and 22nd Grand Slam title

PARIS: The Spaniard Rafael Nadal has ended his Norwegian opponent Casper Ruud’s dream run as he defeated the latter in the final to lift his 14th French Open title, here on Sunday.

In a one-sided final, 36-year-old Nadal won 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 to end Ruud’s hopes of becoming the first Norwegian to win the major title.

Nadal started off the proceedings in a rush as he quickly pulled ahead 2-0. Ruud, on the other hand, also responded and sealed the third game to cut the lead only for Nadal to claim the fourth and restored his lead to 3-1.

The Spaniard then dominated Ruud, who trained at the former’s academy in Manacor since 2018, and claimed the first set 6-3.

There was a glimmer of hope for the Norwegian as he pulled ahead in the second set after breaking 3-1. Nadal, however, roared back with a double break for 4-3. Ruud, then saved three points in the ninth game but his double faulty resulted in Nadal claiming the second straight set.

Nadal, fuelled with momentum, did not look back in the third set as he completely stole the show by claiming the set 6-0, which concluded in just 30 minutes.

With his French Open triumph, Nadal has now claimed the title 14th time and extended his Grand Slam record to 22 victories, leaving his rivals Novak Djokovic (20) and Roger Federer (20) behind.

It is pertinent to mention here that Nadal, 36, has also become the oldest French Open winner as he surpassed Andre Gimeno, who achieved the feat at an age of 34.

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Iga Swiatek dominates Coco Gauff to lift the French Open title

PARIS: World No.1 Iga Swiatek carried on her unbeaten run and defeated her American counterpart Coco Gauff to lift her second French Open title, here on Sunday.

The Polish star completely dominated her opponent in the final as she clinched the victory by 6-1 and 6-3.

The World No.1 Swiatek’s ruthless efficiency did not allow Gauff to settle in the game as she kept pushing her back with her heavy striking and wide-angle shots before claiming the victory in a mere 68 minutes.

Gauff made a number of unforced errors as her forehand continued to let her down and allowed Swiatek to pull ahead and take a 4-0 lead in the first set.

The 18-years-old, however, got the scoreboard moving as she drilled one down to claim her first game. Her comeback did little to none to rattle Swiatek, who appeared firm before closing the set in 32 minutes after securing two more games.

Swiatek, then continued her sublime form in the second set as she again outclassed Gauff to claim the title victory.

With her French Open triumph, Swiatek has now levelled Venus Williams’ 21st-century record of 35 straight wins, set in the 2000s.

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Ruud thumps Cilic, to face Nadal in his first Grand Slam final

PARIS: Norwegian tennis star Casper Ruud’s historic run in the French Open got a major development as he reached his first Grand Slam final by thrashing Croatian player Marin Cilic in the semi-final.

The Norwegian continued to thrive in his historic run as he produced an astonishing comeback before being one set down to claim the victory by 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.

Cilic pulled ahead in the first set as he completely outclassed Ruud with scores of 6-3. Ruud, on the other hand, managed to mark an exceptional comeback as he levelled with the Croatian after claiming the second set.

The Norwegian’ comeback fuelled him with momentum and he never looked back and went on to claim the next two frames to make his way into his first Grand Slam final.

The eighth seed will now face Rafael Nadal in the final as he eyes to deny the latter’s record-extending 14th French Open title and 22 Grand Slam crowns.

It is pertinent to mention here that Ruud has trained in Nadal’s academy in Mallorca since September 2018, adding to the allure ahead of the title showdown.

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Nadal through to French Open final as Zverev retires due to injury

PARIS: The Spaniard Rafael Nadal has qualified for his 14th French Open final in a dramatic way as his German opponent Alexander Zverev retired hurt after sustaining a serious ankle injury.

An epic semi-final clash between the World No.5 Nadal and the third seed Zverev, was cut short 7-6(8), 6-6 as the latter has to retire after rolling his ankle while moving to his right, tracking down a Nadal forehand deep behind the baseline.

The German had to leave the court in a wheelchair, which resulted in Nadal reaching his 14th final of the Grand Slam. The Spaniard is now just one win away from lifting a record-extending 22nd Grand Slam trophy.

In a hard-fought clash, Nadal rallied from a break down and forced the set into a tie-breaker before going on to claim the first set after displaying great determination and skills in a mammoth one hour and 31 minutes.

The Spaniard, again showed his class in the second set, rallying from 3-5 to force what would have been another tie-break. Zverev’s injury, however, caused an early end of the match – which was on course for being the best match of the season.

Zverev’s heartbreak in the all-important semi-final has also halted his chances of rising to No.1 in the ATP Rankings by winning his first grand slam.

Nadal, on the other hand, will face either Casper Ruud or Marin Cilic in the French Open final and a victory in the final will result in the Spaniard becoming the oldest champion by eclipsing Andres Gimeno.

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Swiatek breezes past Kasatkina, storms into the French Open final

PARIS: The top seed Iga Swiatek carried on her unbeaten run as she defeated her Russian counterpart Daria Kasatkina in just 64 minutes to reach her second French Open final, here on Thursday.

Swiatek, who is in sublime form has equalled Serena William’s record of second-most consecutive wins this century, who won 34 consecutive matches between Miami and Wimbledon in 2013.

In the semi-final, Swiatek breathed fire as she complete dominated her opponent throughout the match as she defeated Kasatkina by 6-2, 6-1.

The one-sided affair embarked with an evenly poised four games as Swiatek pulled ahead taking her fourth break point to move up 2-0, but Kasatkina responded quickly as she dodged the former with smart wrong-footing to level at 2-2.

The Polish then again pulled ahead and never looked back as she went on to claim the first set after completely dominating the next four games.

Swiatek, fuelled with momentum, kick-started the second set with the same pace as she moved 1-0 up by claiming the first game.

Kasatkina, on the other hand, made a timely comeback to level the scores at 1-1 only for Swiatek to further level her ante up and claim the victory by winning five consecutive games.

The 21-years-old Swiatek will now take on the United States of America (USA)’s Coco Gauff in the final of the French Open.

The victory over Gauff in the final would bolster Swiatek to equal Venus Williams’ 21st-century record of 35 straight wins, set in 2000.

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Ruud battles past Rune to reach his first French Open semi-final

PARIS: Norwegian tennis-star Casper Ruud carried on his historic run to reach Grand Slam semi-final for the first time as he thrashed Danish player Holger Rune in the french open quarter final game.

Ruud, who became the first Norwegian to reach the quarter-finals of a grand slam further carried on his historic run as he came out on top 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-3 in a four-set clash to book his place in the final four.

The Norwegian got off to a sublime start as he completely dominated the opponent to wrap up the first set by 6-1.

Rune, on the other hand, quickly bounced back in the second set and got a breakthrough at 5-4 up, and further carried his lead to level the match.

The two players then got involved in a tight third set which went right down to the wire before being eventually decided in a tie-breaker. Ruud dug deep to eek out a mini-break to go 4-2 up over his Danish opponent.

The Norwegian did not look back after going within a set to seal a semi-finals spot and comprehensively clinched the victory after claiming the fourth set by 6-3.

The 23-year-old Norwegian will now face Croatia’s Marin Cilic in the second semi-final as he targets the first Grand Slam title of his career.

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Ruud blunts Hurkacz, makes history for Norway at French Open

PARIS: The eighth seed Casper Ruud downed Hubert Hurkacz in the fourth round of the ongoing French Open by 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to become the first Norwegian to qualify for the quarter-finals of the tournament.

Norway’s Ruud, who made history by qualifying for the French Open quarter-finals overcame a brief fightback from his opponent and managed to achieve one of the goals, he set for himself.

The Norwegian started off brilliantly as he pulled ahead 3-1 in the first set as Hurkacz double-faulted. He gave no chance to his Polish opponent, making just two errors before sealing the first set.

The eighth seed, fuelled with momentum, continued his brilliance as he also sealed the second set after an easy affair by 6-3.

The Polish then roared back in the third set as he found his rhythm and pushed Ruud back to 4-2 before holding throughout to cut the lead.

Hurkacz also started the fourth set with determination as he stole Ruud’s serve to go up, only for the latter to fight back and level at 2-2 with a crosscourt shot.

Hurkacz made yet another forehand error as Ruud broke for a 4-2 lead. At 5-2, the Pole escaped a match point, but Ruud won the second with a crosscourt forehand winner.

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French Open: Medvedev thumps Kecmanovic, storms into the fourth round

PARIS: The second-ranked tennis player Daniil Medvedev secured a resounding 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 over the Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic to book his spot in the fourth round of the ongoing French Open.

Medvedev, who seemed to be struggling with his strikes and was not at his sparkling best, eased past the Serb with a straight-sets victory to make his way into the next round.

The Russian blunted the in-form Kecmanovic with a straight-forward victory as he dropped only eight games in total in the progress.

The second seed kept the youngster on the back foot as he dominated the majority of the match with his accurate drop shots and strong net coverage.

After failing in the first four main draw matches in the French Open between 2017 and 2020. The Russian has found his luck this time around as he is just a victory away from reaching a second consecutive quarter-final.

He will lock horns with the winner of the third-round match between Croatia’s Marin Cilic or Frances Gilles Simon, in an attempt to make it to the final eight of the tournament.

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Tsitsipas edge pasts Kolar in the second round of the French Open

PARIS: Greek Tennis player Stefanos Tsitsipas had to dig deep once again to clinch the victory in the ongoing French Open as Zdenek Kolar kept the former involved in another slugfest.

The fourth-ranked tennis player Tsitsipas held his nerves calm to blunt the 134th-ranked Kolar by 6-3, 7-6 (8), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (7) just past the four hours mark.

The youngster showed great determination and grit as he tested the resilience of his better-ranked opponent but missed out on the fourth set to force a fifth as Tsitsipas levelled the last tiebreaker at 6-6 before closing out the match.

The Greek started off strongly as he claimed the first set in just 35 minutes. Kolar, on the other hand, responded quickly and took a 4-1 lead only for Tsitsipas to level his ante up and force a tiebreaker. The former, in the end, managed to claim the second set after a long tiebreaker.

Kolar, however, kept himself in the hunt as he showed character to cut the lead to 2-1 as he forced the fourth set after claiming the tiebreaker in the third 7-6(3).

The fourth set of the match followed the same pattern as both remain indulged in another see-saw battle but Tsitsipas clinched the victory by claiming a second tiebreaker overall.

Tsitsipas will now lock horns with the 95th-ranked Mikael Ymer of Sweden for a place in the fourth round of the tournament.

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