What an amazing ambassador for the Gonet Geneva Open! After winning the title in 2021 and 2022, Norway’s Casper Ruud has lifted the trophy at the Geneva tournament for the third time. And what a day! Due to the rain on Friday night, his semi-final was postponed to 10.30am on Saturday morning, meaning he had to play two matches in a matter of hours. Facing youngster Flavio Cobolli in his first match of the day, the 25-year-old Norwegian saved a match point before booking his place in the final of the Gonet Geneva Open, with a 1-6 6-1 7-6 (4) win in just under two hours of play.
One might have thought that Casper Ruud would want to save some energy for his forthcoming fortnight in Paris, but that did not seem to be the case. The World No.7 fought courageously to reach the final of “his” tournament, in a bid to take home the trophy for the third time.
Just a few short hours after his victory over the young Italian, it was time for him to step back out onto centre court in Geneva. This time he came up against Tomáš Macháč, the rising star of Czech tennis, who proved this week that he had all the weapons he needed to challenge his opponent of the day. After all, the 23-year-old Czech player defeated World No.1 Novak Djokovic on Friday afternoon… And, unlike his Norwegian rival, he had had several hours to recover before the match!
The day’s finalists put on a spectacular show to round off this week in Geneva. Broken early on, Casper Ruud then stole the Czech’s service game as he was serving for the first set, then a second time to take a 7-5 lead after an hour of play. Galvanised by this first step in the right direction, the now three-time winner of the Gonet Geneva Open then broke Tomáš Macháč’s serve at the beginning of the second set. Casper Ruud used his experience to his advantage to stay ahead in this almost perfectly-orchestrated match, which he finally won 7-5 6-3.
“I think I’ve already said it in the past, but Geneva reminds me a lot of my home country, especially with the mountains and the lake,” the Norwegian said after his victory. “The people are lovely; I always feel good here and the conditions seem to suit me perfectly [smiles]. I’m really happy with this new title. It’s also a great way to warm up for Roland-Garros and the fortnight ahead.”