French Open in Paris, quarter-finals, Wednesday, 07.06.2023
An exciting duel is on the agenda on Wednesday in the quarter-finals of the French Open between Holger Rune and Casper Ruud.
The number four seed Ruud is rated by the betting companies as a narrow favourite against the number six seed Dane.
In my Rune Ruud tip, I will take a closer look at the semi-final chances of both opponents.
The 24-year-old Ruud and the 20-year-old Rune have met five times on the ATP Tour so far.
The first four duels in 2021 and 2022 were all won by the Norwegian. The two also met in Paris last year. Ruud won the quarter-final 6-1, 4-6, 7-6, 6-3.
Ruud lost a set for the first time in their fourth meeting. In the spring of 2023, Rune turned the tables for the first time in the semifinals in Rome, winning 6-7, 6-4, 6-2.
Especially because of this success in the last duel so far, Rune now also expects to have a chance against the Norwegian at Roland Garros.
The bookmakers see both players on a similar level. Ruud is traded at Bet365 with a win rate of 1.8. The odds for Rune are not much higher at 2.0.
Holger Rune would reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time with a win.
So far, last year’s quarter-final in Paris was the Dane’s greatest success at one of the four biggest tournaments. He has already set this mark this year.
A competitive duel is to be expected in any case, especially as both players did not take it too easy on their way to the quarter-finals.
Casper Ruud, for example, had to go through four sets against the Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri after his opening victory over the Swede Elias Ymer in three sets, as well as against the Chinese Zhizhen Zhang in round 3.
In the round of 16, the Norwegian again won against Nicolas Jarry from Chile in three sets – but the result of 7-6, 7-5, 7-5 shows that it was anything but easy.
But the way to the quarter-finals in Paris was no walk in the park for Holger Rune either.
Already in his opening match against the American Christopher Eubanks, the Dane lost a set and also had to go into a tie-break.
After that, he reached round 3 without a fight over the injured Gael Monfils, where he had no chance against the Argentine Genaro Alberto Olivieri 4-6, 1-6, 3-6.
The duel against Olivieri’s compatriot Francisco Cerundolo was completely different. The Argentinian, seeded number 23, challenged Rune massively.
After a 5-set battle, Rune only prevailed after four hours in the tie-break of the deciding set with a 10-7 win.
Rune showed in the round of 16 that he doesn’t give up and can go over five sets.
Ruud also gave up two sets in the tournament so far, but it has not been that close for him so far. However, he was also on the court for more than three hours in the last 16.
But from my point of view, five sets seem possible this time. Both players are on a very similar level, neither Ruud nor Rune have fully convinced in Paris so far.
Therefore, I don’t expect either player to win clearly in three sets. I therefore expect it to take a long time and don’t want to commit to a winner.
My Rune Ruud tip is: It will go over 5 sets!
