A semifinal spot will be at stake when Casper Ruud faces Holger Rune at Roland Garros on Wednesday night. The winner will go up against either Alexander Zverev or Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
Casper Ruud vs. Holger Rune in the French Open quarterfinals.
You’ve seen it before. Now you’ll see it again.
Last year’s quarterfinal clash at Roland Garros certainly did not disappoint, as Ruud prevailed 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-3 amidst plenty of bad blood both on the court and in the locker room. Tensions don’t seem to be as hot now as they were in 2022, but Ruud also admitted earlier this spring that they won’t be going out to dinner with each other any time soon.
As for when they take the court together, Ruud leads the overall head-to-head series 4-1 heading into Wednesday’s rematch. All five of their previous meetings have come on clay, including most recently at the Rome Masters. Ruud led that semifinal showdown by a set and a break only to see Rune recover for a 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-2 victory.
Another fun one should be in store at Roland Garros, but a slight edge may go to Ruud. Although the fourth-ranked Norwegian has struggled for much of this season, he always seems to raise his level at Grand Slams. Ruud finished runner-up at the French Open and U.S. Open in 2022, and now he is back in the quarters following defeats of Elias Ymer, Giulio Zeppieri, Zhizhen Zhang, and Nicolas Jarry. A 7-6(3), 7-5, 7-5 win over Jarry avenged a loss in the Geneva final a little more than a week ago.
Now Ruud hopes to pay back Rune for the Rome result. The physicality of a best-of-five situation opposed to best-of-three is probably advantageous for the 24-year-old, especially because Rune is coming off a five-set struggle with Francisco Cerundolo on Monday. That was preceded by an easy first week for the 20-year-old Dane, but fatigue nonetheless could be a factor.
It won’t be easy, but look for Ruud to get the best of this quarterfinal matchup yet again.
Pick: Ruud in 5
WWW?
Rune 🙏
I want Rune to win but there’s no way he can do it after that near meltdown yesterday.
Ruud wins in 4, maybe 5 tough sets.
Very tough to pick this one…very!….but I’ll guess Rune in 4.
Rudd in 4
I hope Rune. Dont think Ruud will have any chance in a final against Alcaraz. Rune could with his higher upside and if he’s 100%
Ridiculous number of errors from Rune. Beginning here how he left off from the last match.
What a terrible set of tennis.
Dreadful by Rune. Ruud wasn’t actually playing well. Had 2 winners to 10 ues.
Y is he doing this utterly braindead thing of hitting huge second serves and double faulting? Just get the ball in!
Ppl r not talking about Rudd but he’s doing only what he needs to to win……..even if it results in sloppy tennis at times, but right now he’s beating the crap out of Rune who is just so erratic!! This kid needs to calm down!
Won’t surprise me if Rudd ends up winning this whole thing!’ 😝
Vamos Rudd!!! 😃
It would surprise me Mona! His record against the top players ie Rafa, Novak and Carlos is terrible.
Rune is playing awful but he has beaten many top players including beating g Novak twice.
Would have been better if Cerundolo had won…
Med screwed up the rankings.
Alcaraz Djokovic should have been the final. Would have been miles better for the tournament…
If Djokovic had his wimby points this wouldn’t have happened.
I HAVEA to believe that the l results speak for themselves!! I mean I don’t think Rudd would beat Carlos or Novak anyway in the semi/finals!! He lacks the experience of going deep in a slam……look how he’s playing against Rudd! He has no answers to Rudd who is not even a power player!! I mean 61 62 in a quarterfinal?!! Rudd had better even raise his intensity in the third to completely bury Rune bcoz I have no confidence that Rune would fair better in the semis or finals!!
Rune has probably left it too late to come back and win. He’s not very physically fit..
Yep, he certainly has the skill set but he needs to manage his composure…….too impatient!
This RG sucks without Rafa Mona!!!
It seems like every single match I watch Mouratoglou is in the box bouncing up and down like a yoyo!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Rafa not being at RG clearly feels like a sore thumb!!!
I remember some bashing RG for being the least prestigious slam…….all of a sudden everyone and their dog is clambering to win title!! 🙄
When Ruud is dialed in, Rune can’t beat him. Ruud just went MIA the best time they played. No doubt he was pissed about it and looking forward to this opportunity.
Jarry ended up being collateral damage.
So happy for Rudd!!! Hope he gets to final 😃