WHAT HAPPENED: It would have been natural to expect fireworks and flashes of brilliance in a match involving Gael Monfils and the former US Open finalist Casper Ruud, but lightning interrupting a topsy-turvy match for nearly two hours and pushing it into late night? That’s what fans got Wednesday in Grandstand.
The late-afternoon match began as a torrid summer sun finally began to set and ended past 11 p.m., after fans and players were forced to take shelter. No. 8 seed Ruud of Norway, a finalist in Flushing in 2022, ultimately weathered the storm and proved himself the steadier player, moving past the French veteran, 6-4, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(3), to advance to the third round.
Ruud, a three-time major finalist, played the cleaner and more consistent tennis, countering the flashier tendencies of the Frenchman. Through the first two sets the 25-year-old Norwegian committed just eight unforced errors, and Monfils was unable to stay with him on longer rallies.
Monfils, 37, began to unravel a bit toward the end of the first set, nearly whiffing on a couple of service returns, then hitting three errors and a double fault to hand Ruud the break to open the second set. At the beginning of the third set, a dispirited Monfils argued with the chair umpire after a time violation call, which had been assessed after he took too long changing his kit.
Almost immediately after, though, Monfils suddenly found a spark, getting and grabbing his first break-point opportunity and claiming his first lead of the match, racing to a 5-2 lead. The break in the action may have disrupted Ruud’s rhythm. Monfils broke serve at love to claim the third set.
Even after winning that set, Monfils kept up his running dialogue with the umpire, defending himself for taking a bit of extra time earlier, saying, “I’m an old guy, you understand? I don’t want any drama.” While speaking and laughing with his coach when Ruud took a long bathroom break, a jovial Monfils said, “I’m crazy relaxed.”
After that prolonged break, though, the momentum swung back and forth. Ruud jumped out to a 0-40 lead on Monfils’ serve and capitalized with an inside-in forehand winner to pull ahead in the fourth set. The Frenchman then went up 3-1, only to see Ruud erase that advantage and pull even.
And if that wasn’t enough, with Monfils leading 4-3 and the crowd chanting his name, lightning and a forecast for rain suspended play midway through the fourth set, forcing both fans and players to take cover. Play didn’t resume for nearly two hours.
Monfils may have said he didn’t want drama, but Mother Nature had other ideas.
At 11 p.m., play finally resumed. In the fourth-set tiebreak, Ruud was in full lockdown mode, playing calm, contained tennis to survive and advance.
For those looking for highlight-reel points, the match had many. The most important one, though, was in that final tiebreak. Ruud raced deep around the backcourt and tracked down three overheads off the Monfils racquet, finishing the point with a lunging, rolling forehand cross-court winner, to the disbelief of the Frenchman.
Ruud and Monfils had split their two previous matches, both of which were tight three-setters, so it wasn’t a surprise that this one, too, was so closely contested and entertaining. The elements added a new twist, though. And in a US Open oddity, the Grandstand match was the final one to finish Wednesday night the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
WHAT IT MEANS: Both players have strong resumes at the US Open: Ruud reached the final in Flushing Meadows in 2022, losing to first-time champion Carlos Alcaraz, and Monfils made the semis here in 2016.
Ruud has not had an especially propitious summer hard-court season, bowing out early in both ATP Masters 1000 events. He won just one match in Montreal and then lost his opening match Cincinnati to Felix Auger-Aliassime. The Norwegian had a much more successful clay season, winning in Barcelona and making the semifinals of the French Open.
Monfils, who has been on tour for two decades now, came into the Open on the heels of one of his best victories in recent play, defeating No. 3 Alcaraz at the ATP Masters 1000 in Cincinnati. The Frenchman, who is married and has a family with the WTA star Elina Svitolina, appears to have lost few of his physical gifts and seems uninterested in hanging up his fleet tennis shoes anytime soon. Monfils, who turns 38 on Sunday, is still winning some key matches and making the later rounds of a number of tournaments; he remains in the Top 50 (at No. 45).
MATCH POINT: Ruud is second on the ATP tour for wins in 2024 with 46 match wins, just behind Alexander Zverev and ahead of Carlos Alcaraz.
