Fourth seed Ruud recovers to beat Zhang and reach last 16 at Roland-Garros

Last year’s runner-up Casper Ruud continues to improve round by round at Roland-Garros.

The No 4 seed was frustrated early on but bounced back strongly to beat China’s Zhizhen Zhang 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday to reach the last 16.

Casper Ruud is back into the last 16 at #RolandGarros after beating Zhang Zhizhen 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4.

He will face Nico Jarry or Marcos Giron on Monday. pic.twitter.com/pUGueUFQqA

— José Morgado (@josemorgado) June 3, 2023

Ruud, ranked No 4, will face the winner of the match between Chilean Nicolas Jarry and American Marcos Giron next.

Ruud shows frustration early

Ruud was unusually frustrated in the early stages as Zhang, the first Chinese man into the third round since 1937, hit a series of big winners, unloading on some massive forehands, while his backhand down the line was particularly effective.

But after getting the break in the 10th game of the second set, he broke early in the third and as Zhang’s resistance weakened, he pulled away for a confident victory.

“I was a bit frustrated in the beginning,” Ruud said. “I didn’t start as good as I’d hoped. I didn’t hit many winners. I couldn’t really find any hole in his game. Luckily at 5-4 in the second set he played some sloppy shots and I got the break to even the match. That gave me some confidence, I started to play better and better in the third and fourth.”

“Maybe I’m a good actor”

Ruud was asked by Fabrice Santoro how he stayed so calm during tournaments but the Norwegian said he was not so cool inside.

“I don’t feel so relaxed even though maybe I look like it,” he said, smiling. “Maybe I’m a good actor. Every match is physical, every match is tough, physically and mentally. This is the first year that I’m coming here trying to defend a big result from last year. That brings a little extra pressure.”

Ahead of his victory, the Norwegian beat Swede qualifier Elias Ymer (6-4, 6-3, 6-2) and edged out Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri (6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5).

Zhang, ranked No 71, benefited from the abandonment of Serb Dusan Lajovic (6-1, 4-1) and won against Argentinian Thiago Agustin Tirante (7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-4) earlier in the tournament.

Paris (Grand Slam), other third-round results (Stade Roland-Garros, clay, EUR 49.600.000, most recent results first):

• Alexander Zverev vs. Frances Tiafoe
• Daniel Altmaier vs. Grigor Dimitrov
• Francisco Cerundolo vs. Taylor Fritz
• Borna Coric vs. Tomas Martin Etcheverry: saturday
• Nicolas Jarry vs. Marcos Giron: saturday
• Holger Rune vs. Genaro Alberto Olivieri: saturday
• Yoshihito Nishioka vs. Thiago Seyboth Wild: saturday
• Carlos Alcaraz (1) beat Denis Shapovalov (26): 6-1, 6-4, 6-2
• Juan Pablo Varillas beat Hubert Hurkacz (13): 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-2
• Stefanos Tsitsipas (5) beat Diego Schwartzman: 6-2, 6-2, 6-3
• Lorenzo Musetti (17) beat Cameron Norrie (14): 6-1, 6-2, 6-4
• Novak Djokovic (3) beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (29): 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-2
• Sebastian Ofner (Q) beat Fabio Fognini: 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, 1-6, 6-4
• Lorenzo Sonego beat Andrey Rublev (7): 5-7, 0-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3
• Karen Khachanov (11) beat Thanasi Kokkinakis (WC): 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (5)