Casper Ruud books place in US Open final by battling past Karen Khachanov

Just over a year ago, after Casper Ruud navigated a tidy straight-sets win at a tournament in Toronto, he decided to have a little bit of fun. Handed a marker to sign the television camera, he opted to write a simple message: “hard courts”. He signed it off with a smiley face.

His point was clear. He had heard all of the criticisms of his abilities on the surface loud and clear, the way that people questioned and underestimated him, but he took them with a smile. He was still working hard, hopeful that he would continue to improve with time.

As he continues to stride through the greatest season of his career the understated tenacity and work rate constantly exhibited by Ruud continues to yield great success. Despite the pressure of being the favourite in a grand slam semi-final Ruud remained steady through his early nerves and gradually ground down Karen Khachanov, the 27th seed, as he became the first Norwegian man to reach a US Open final, winning 7-6(5), 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.

By reaching the final Ruud, the fifth seed, has put himself on the verge of achieving the two ultimate achievements in the sport at once. Three months after being flattened by the unstoppable force of Rafael Nadal in the French Open final, he will once again play for his first grand slam title. Ruud will also become the new world No 1 next week unless Carlos Alcaraz, who faced Frances Tiafoe overnight in the second semi-final, wins the US Open.

So much of the recent history of men’s tennis has been written by three men, players who hoarded most of the grand slam titles, packed out the final rounds of events and, even when they did not win, absorbed so much of the attention.

For the first time since the inaugural US Open in 1881 four male players had