French Open: Casper Ruud survives scare against Zhizhen Zhang to move into fourth round

Casper Ruud survived a brief scare against Zhizhen Zhang to move into the fourth round 4-6 6-4 6-1 6-4. Fourth seed Casper Ruud was the favourite going into the match, and one of the most leading players in the tournament given the absence of Rafael Nadal. Ad On Thursday in his second-round match, he needed four sets against Giulio Zeppieri and there were signs of struggles early on against Zhang.

Roland-Garros'Full of guts!' — Zhang claims first set against Ruud2 HOURS AGO In the first set he was 3-1 down against his Chinese opponent, who beat Thiago Tirane in his own second-round tie. The 26-year-old Zhang is an imposing figure, standing 6ft 4in tall, and had already reached the furthest in his career at any Grand Slam. Ruud has the Estoril Open to his name so far this season, and was a losing finalist in last year’s tournament at Roland-Garros, and at the US Open.

Rybakina withdraws from French Open moments before third-round match Robson believes French Open crowd 'finding that balance' with boos for players 'He's got to be careful!' — Nishioka 'sees red mist' over decision in 'utter drama' The Norwegian struggled to keep his normally strong forehand from breaking down, and half an hour into the first set he complained to the umpire that some balls had become difficult to play as they accumulated clay from the surface. Zhang broke again to reach 5-4 and serve for the first set, and he battled to claim it. Zhang was less steely in the second set and Ruud knew that he would have to push past his own poor form to level at 1-1.