Geneva: On Saturday, Casper Ruud defeated Tomas Machac, the man who had defeated Novak Djokovic, to win a third title in Geneva and take a trophy to the French Open. Seventh-ranked Norwegian Ruud defeated 44th-ranked Czech Machac 7-5, 6-3, in one hour and forty-seven minutes. Ruud, the second seed, is familiar with the clay of Parc des Eaux-Vives, having won the Geneva championship in 2021 and 2022.
Ruud finished second in the previous two French Opens, and a third victory in Geneva provides the 25-year-old with much-needed momentum as he heads to Paris. Ruud is the only player on the ATP tour with more victories this year.
The second of the four Grand Slams of the year, the French Open, starts on Sunday and is preceded by the 28-man Geneva competition. After defeating Italy’s very skilled Flavio Cobolli 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7/4) in a thrilling semifinal encounter, Ruud was playing in his second match of the day. It was supposed to be Friday night’s match between Ruud and Cobolli, with a career-high rating of 56, but the rain kept calling.
“I’ll just take a shower, rest, have some lunch, and then start again,” Ruud said after his first win of the day.
The world number one Djokovic used a late wildcard to enter the Geneva tournament in an attempt to recover from a worrisome decline in form before his three-time winner Roland-Garros. But after losing 6-4, 0-6, and 6-1 to Machac in the Geneva semifinals on Friday, the 24-time Grand Slam champion was left feeling “worried” about his defence of the French Open crown.
Machac, the second-ranked player from the Czech Republic, achieved his greatest victory to date and advanced into his first tour-level final. This will drive him to a career-high 34th place in the world rankings. Tomas Smid made it to the Geneva final as the last Czech in 1987. Felipe Meligeni Alves, a Brazilian qualifier, will take on Ruud in the opening round of the French Open. Nuno Borges, the top Portuguese player, will take on Machac.
