Ruud wins third Geneva title to head to Paris on a high

Casper Ruud downed Novak Djokovic's conqueror Tomas Machac on Saturday to win a third Geneva title and head into the French Open with a trophy in his racquet bag.

Norwegian Ruud, the world number seven, beat 44th-ranked Czech Machac 7-5, 6-3 in an hour and 47 minutes.

Second seed Ruud is at home on the Parc des Eaux-Vives clay, having won the Geneva title in 2021 and 2022.

Ruud was the runner-up in the last two French Opens, and a third Geneva title gives the 25-year-old a timely boost as he makes the journey to Paris. Nobody has won more matches on the ATP tour this year than Ruud.

"I'm happy after winning another title. It's been quite a difficult week. There are never any easy matches. I was on the brink of losing a couple of times during the tournament," Ruud told reporters afterwards.

"So the the margins were on my side and hopefully they can continue to be for the next two weeks.

"The courts, the conditions suit my game quite well and I'm always motivated when I come here, and looking forward for this tournament.

"And of course, with Paris in the back of my mind, I try to take this tournament very seriously.

"Aesthetically it's a beautiful city: the lake, the mountains. Somehow it reminds me a bit of Norway," he said of Geneva.

- Back-to-back matches -

The 28-man Geneva tournament serves as a warm-up before the French Open, the second of the year's four Grand Slams, which begins on Sunday.

It was Ruud's second match of the day, having beaten Italy's in-form Flavio Cobolli 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7/4) in a roller coaster semi-final.

The contest between Ruud and Cobolli, on a career-high ranking of 56, was meant to take place on Friday evening but was called off due to persistent rain.

World number one Djokovic took a late wildcard to play in Geneva in a bid to reverse an alarming dip in form ahead of Roland-Garros, where he has won three times.

But the 24-time Grand Slam champion was left feeling "worried" about his French Open title defence after falling 6-4, 0-6, 6-1 to Machac in the Geneva semi-finals on Friday.

For Czech number two Machac, it was the biggest win of his career and propelled the 23-year-old into his maiden tour-level final, which will shoot him up to a career-high 34 in the world rankings.

The last Czech to reach the Geneva final was Tomas Smid in 1987.

rjm/ea