The French Open rematch between Casper Ruud and Holger Rune produced the same result–except without the verbal jousting.
One year after beating Rune in four sets in the quarterfinals, Ruud did the same at Roland Garros on Wednesday night. The Norwegian prevailed 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 after two hours and 44 minutes to book a semifinal spot alongside Alexander Zverev.
Following their contentious 2022 encounter, there was a cold handshake and an alleged shouting match in the locker room. This one had no such bad blood, but it did have bad tennis–at least from Rune for two full sets.
“I think I started very, very bad, unfortunately,” the 20-year-old Dane lamented. “I didn’t find my level at all the first two sets. Then I started to play a little bit better; found some rhythm in my game (and) managed to put him under pressure.
“But, again, it’s too costly to start so late. Against a great player like him, he deserved to win because, first of all, I wasn’t there the first two sets. You cannot allow yourself to do that when you play a player like Casper, and any player at the top of the game, because it’s too long of a way back. Credit to him for staying there.”
“I came into this match trying to play without pressure, but it’s not easy, obviously; you’re playing a big match,” Ruud said. “Luckily for me in the first two sets he was not feeling it too well, he was doing a lot of errors. I got a lot of points for free, so that helps settle the nerves.
“I kind of looked at it as he was the favorite. He won the last time (we played); he’s had a better year than me so far. I was sort of feeling I’m the underdog here even though I’m seeded No. 4 and he’s seeded No. 6. He was probably hungry to reach his first (Grand Slam) semifinal and I was hungry to try to get back in the semifinals here again. Luckily it paid [off] for me.”
Friday’s semifinal schedule features Ruud vs. Zverev and a blockbuster battle between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic.
So happy for Rudd……hope he makes it to the final! Vamos!!