US Open 2022 – Ruthless Casper Ruud downs Karen Khachanov to reach second Grand Slam final of the season

Casper Ruud continued his incredible year as he reached his second Grand Slam final of the season with a straight-sets victory over Karen Khachanov in their US Open clash.

The fifth seed found a stunning run of form from the opening set tie-break onwards and an exasperated Khachanov was often left shaking his head in frustration as his opponent breezed through the semi-final 7-6(5) 6-2 5-7 6-2.

The 23-year-old from Oslo, who also reached the showpiece match at the French Open, where he lost out to Rafael Nadal, will have another tilt at sealing his first major title in what has been an inspired season.

Ruud could not have made a brighter start as he leapt into a two-game lead with an immediate break of serve, but Khachanov did not take long to respond and haul himself back on terms.

Shortly afterwards, Khachanov forced another break as Ruud wavered again on serve, but the course of the opening set shifted yet again as the Norwegian found a way to take it into a tie-break.

While much of the tennis in the opening set was fairly sloppy at times from both players, the intensity ramped up in the breaker, capped off by a remarkable 55-shot rally as Ruud clinched it in style.

The second set was one-way traffic with Khachanov only able to muster two games as Ruud accelerated away behind an incredibly consistent serve and near-faultless groundstrokes from the back of the court.

Khachanov did manage to provide a strong resistance in the third set to extend the match, taking it 7-5, but then the 27th seed faded out.

The Norwegian never looked like losing the match and quickly re-established his authority in the fourth set. Indeed, he ended up romping away with it to close out the match in style in just under three hours, losing just two games in the final set.

Ruud will now await the winner of the second semi-final between fellow rising star Carlos Alcaraz and the resurgent home favourite, Frances Tiafoe with Grand Slam glory on the line on Sunday.

Having won just three times in his first four appearances at Flushing Meadows, he has now reached the final at the fifth attempt and made a big statement in the process, becoming the first Norwegian to do so.