Roland-Garros 2022 – Casper Ruud, “the unknown” looks like a finalist before his quarter-final against Holger Rune

He is not the most exciting of the last survivors of the painting, nor the best known, even in Denmark. But he never takes offense. This hybrid status suits him very well. “Often people at the supermarket tell me they’ve seen my face somewhere“, he laughed during the spring about his relative anonymity in a country where Erling Haaland or Johannes Klaebo hold the top billing.

But this Roland-Garros could well mark a break. Because, as Mats Wilander aptly summed it up, “it’s an opportunity” in gold who presents himself for the qualifiers at the bottom of the table in the quarters. Holger Rune, Marin Cilic and Andrey Rublev undoubtedly have their own weapons but the one who emerges from the scrum is him.

6th in Race and winning streak

Winner in Geneva the week before coming to Porte d’Auteuil, the Norwegian is now 8 wins in a row, the third best current series on the circuit behind those of Carlos Alcaraz (14) and Novak Djokovic (9) before their defeats in the quarterfinals tuesday. At Race, he is the 6th highest ranked player of the year despite some physical glitches (ankle, abdomen, wisdom tooth) which notably forced him to skip the Australian Open. In his part of the table, only Rublev does better but the Russian appears almost like a miracle in the quarter-finals.

If he started the season on piano earth, he now seems to be launched at full speed. On Monday, against a Hubert Hurkacz who had not yet been broken in the tournament, he pilfered the Pole’s serve six times. “I may have played my best tennis this year in the first two sets“, he confessed.

Here he is in the quarter, his best result in a Grand Slam, with the firm desire to see a little further. “I reached Masters 1000 semi-finals and finals where there were already these guyshe replied when he was asked about the favorites of this Roland-Garros. But here, it’s different with this best-of-three-sets format. I typically think that’s an advantage for me. And, in a way, arriving at Roland-Garros this year, I felt more mature, more experienced in this format.“.

The question of the cadors… which will not arise before the final

Last year, his defeat in the third round in five sets against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina was heartbreaking for this ocher lover. Here he is reconciled with his favorite Major. “Last year he played badly on clay. I don’t know how he won on hard in Miamiestimated his dad and trainer Christian Ruud at Eurosport after his 3rd victory. But he said it himself: he grew up on earth“.

Despite his rich CV and his chances on earth, it is his opponent, the nugget Holger Rune, who should still attract all eyes on Wednesday during the night session. Because the talented teenagers who are emerging are always more talked about. He will not take offense, on the contrary, he will play with it.

Ultimately, our consultant Mats Wilander summed up the situation with Ruud best. “I don’t know if he has the resources in him to beat the very best“, he confessed, recalling the big question still unanswered around the case of the Norwegian. But, basically, it doesn’t matter: to go to the final, he has none of the usual heavyweights. “What is certain is that you have to be an amazing clay court player to beat Ruud here“Wilander finally concluded. Neither Rune, nor Cilic, nor Rublev really fit the description.