Casper Ruud‘s quest for his first Grand Slam title will reach a climax on Friday when he faces Karen Khachanov in the US Open semi-finals. He is the first Norwegian player to reach US Open semifinals

The Norwegian proved his title credentials by defeating Italian Matteo Berrettini in straight sets to record his 43rd victory of the season. With his confidence high and the No. 1 Pepperstone ATP Ranking within reach, the fifth seed appears to be a major threat on the hard courts in New York.

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Ruud, who is currently ranked eighth in the world, is also the first Norwegian man to reach a Grand Slam final. He turned professional in 2015, and his career-high ranking is seven, which he attained in April of this year. He has an overall 143-79 win-loss record with eight titles, seven of which he has won on clay. His only other non-clay title came in 2021 on the hard court in San Diego. His eight titles have all come at ATP 250 events.

Ruud reached the final of the ATP Masters Series summit clash in Miami in April of this year. In the final, he was defeated by Carlos Alcaraz. He has won 30 of the 39 matches he has played in 2022. And has won 66 clay-court matches since 2020, 15 more than any other player on the Tour.

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Ruud is the son of Christian Ruud, a former professional tennis player. He has two sisters. He grew up in Baerum’s Snarya district, with Rafael Nadal as his tennis idol.

Ruud and Nadal have never played against each other professionally, but they have practised frequently. Since September 2018, the Norwegian has been training at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Spain.

“We have played some practise sets [at the academy], and, yeah, it’s been, I don’t know honestly, but (Rafael Nadal) always pretty much has always beaten me. There’s been some close sets, 7-6, 7-5, but it always goes his favour. But it’s because we are playing in the academy and I want to be nice to him and give him (the win),” Ruud said of his training.

Christian won 115 tour-level matches and rose to No. 39 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, both of which are noteworthy accomplishments.

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Ruud has been in a relationship with his current girlfriend, Maria Galligani, since 2018. Fans have seen Gallani in the player’s box at various tournaments. During her boyfriend’s matches, she was spotted at the Austrian Open, Paris Masters, and even the ATP Nitto Finals. Casper Ruud and Maria Galligani are both from Oslo, Norway. 

According to sports lumo, she is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Psychology at Syddansk Universitet, which is part of the University of Southern Denmark.

According to Fresher Live, Ruud has a net worth of 4.5 million.