The Vikings board Roland Garros
The French Open 2022 is all about the rebellion of young tennis players. Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz has made a splash and two young athletes from Scandinavia are also set to make a lasting mark in the Roland Garros history books. The quarter-finals will see a duel between Casper Ruud from Norway and the young Dane Holger Rune.
The fact that the Norwegian plays outstanding tennis on clay and has now established himself among the world’s top players will not have gone unnoticed by any fan of the sport. The 23-year-old is seeded eighth at the French Open, so it is no surprise that he is now in the quarter-finals. His opponent, however, should not have been expected in this round.
Holger Vitus Nödskov Rune is the only remaining unseeded player in the men’s competition. The Dane is just 19 years old and has already made a very big step towards world class this season.
We think it should be a close match. Therefore, we tend to place a bet on more than 3.5 sets in this match between Casper Ruud and Holger Rune. In any case, it is clear that the winner of this duel will celebrate the biggest success in his career, because neither of them has ever reached the semi-finals of a Grand Slam tournament.
Casper Ruud – Statistics & current form
Current world ranking: 8
Position in the seedings: 8
Casper Ruud is certainly one of the upcoming players on all surfaces, but if we look at his past achievements, it is the victories on the red clay that have taken the Norwegian all the way to the top ten of the world rankings. The 23-year-old has won seven of his eight tournaments on clay. Only in San Diego did he triumph on a hard court last October.
Strong series of the Norwegian
However, he also lost his only Masters final this year on a hard court in Miami against Carlos Alcaraz. However, the Norwegian has already reached the semifinals at the Masters in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome. It is not out of the question that Casper Ruud can reach the final round of the French Open, especially since he is in very good form at the Stade Roland Garros.
The Norwegian currently has a series of 11:1 victories, eight of which have come in a row. At the Masters in Rome, he lost in the semifinals to Novak Djokovic, but then won the tournament in Geneva. In Paris, he had the honour of being the last opponent of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first round, who ended his career after this match.
The 23-year-old had to drop a few sets on his way to the quarter-finals. Against Lorenzo Sonego from Italy, the Norwegian was even down 1:2 sets and he also had problems against Hubert Hurkacz from Poland in the meantime. Therefore, in the match between Casper Ruud and Holger Rune, we look at the odds for a win for the Norwegian in connection with more than 3.5 sets.
Holger Rune – Statistics & current form
Current world ranking: 40
Position in the seedings: unseeded
It wasn’t that long ago that Holger Rune had to fight his way through the qualifiers at the big tournaments and even this year the Dane still played on the Challenger Tour. After his great performances in the last few weeks and now also at the French Open, both of these things should have come to an end. In the meantime, the 19-year-old has advanced to the extended world elite.
Two top ten players defeated
That he would one day be successful at the French Open was already apparent three years ago when he triumphed in the juniors at the Stade Roland Garros. Now he has also arrived on the ATP Tour and recently won in Munich, among other things after defeating Alexander Zverev. In addition, the Dane recently reached the semifinals in Lyon.
It was not to be expected that he would play for a place in the semi-finals in Paris. After all, he had never won a match in the main draw at a Grand Slam tournament. Already in the first round, he had a clear victory against the Canadian Denis Shapovalov, who was clearly rated higher. In the next two matches against Henri Laaksonen and Hugo Gaston, Holger Rune had no problems in three clear sets each.
He then made a big statement in the round of 16 when he eliminated last year’s finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas in four sets. The Dane has thus beaten two of the absolute heavyweights, Zverev and Tsitsipas, within a very short time. If he continues to play in this form on Wednesday, then one can make a prediction for another surprise between Casper Ruud and Holger Rune.
Casper Ruud – Holger Rune Direct comparison / H2H-balance
Casper Ruud and Holger Rune are both still very young players. The spurs that the Norwegian has already earned are now also being picked up by the Dane. Despite their young age, their paths have already crossed three times on the ATP Tour. These matches must not have been a pleasure for the Danish challenger.
All three duels went to Casper Ruud. Moreover, the Norwegian did not drop a set in these three matches. In the first two duels from 2021, Holger Runde even won a total of only five games. The most recent encounter was in the second round of Monte Carlo. However, the 7:6 and 7:5 for the Norwegian showed that it could now also be close in Paris.
Casper Ruud – Holger Rune Tip
Casper Ruud will be looking to seize the moment and reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. With a record of 11-1 wins from his last twelve matches and eight unbeaten matches in a row, the Norwegian must surely be considered a favourite. However, he has not been without problems at the French Open.
Holger Rune is the only player in the remaining field who is unseeded. Before this French Open, he had not won a match at a Grand Slam tournament. Now he seems to have made the breakthrough after beating two top players this year in Alexander Zverev and most recently Stefanos Tsitsipas.
But we expect it won’t be an easy passage for the favourite. It is hard to imagine that this match will be over after just three sets. Nevertheless, we believe that the Norwegian will prevail in the end and have decided to place betting odds between Casper Ruud and Holger Rune on a win for the Norwegian and at least four sets.
