In a semifinal that promises plenty of entertainment, Holger Rune will take on Casper Ruud at the ATP Rome Masters. There may also be drama with this their first meeting since last year’s French Open match which ended with a cold handshake and Rune accusing the Norwegian of poor sportsmanship in the locker room. Regardless of the off court drama, these are two top players with fairly similar skillsets that will surely provide great tennis. As always, we here at LWOT are offering our prediction for the match, but who will come out on top?
ATP Rome Semifinal Prediction
Holger Rune vs Casper Ruud
Head-to-head: Ruud 4-0 Rune
Rune is fast becoming one of the favourites for the French Open after the excellent clay court season he has had to this point. Outside of a disappointing early loss in Madrid, he was the finalist in Monte Carlo and won the title in Munich. After reaching a career-high ranking of world #2 last year and making the French Open final, Ruud has had a poor year by the high standard that he has set for himself.
Things seemed to be looking up on clay after a title in Estoril but his clay-court results had been mixed up to this point. Ruud has played well so far in Rome and has lost just one set all tournament, while Rune struggled in his round of 16 match against Alexei Popyrin, finally coming out on top after a tight match last over three hours. Any form concerns were quickly erased with his impressive win over Novak Djokovic where he played sharp tennis and limited his errors against the world #1. Rune has looked better at a high level, and while Ruud has been improving, he will certainly have to up his game, as he is yet to beat a player ranked inside the top-15 this year.
The biggest concern for Rune will surely be fitness considering he spent over five and a half hours on court during his last two matches and called the physio during his match against Djokovic. He has some good fortune with his place in the draw where he gets a day of rest before the semifinal which should be plenty of time to recover and come out fresh against Ruud. Ruud should have no serious fitness concerns and come out fresh and sharp, the only question mark over his chances is if he can find his game from 2022 and rise to the occasion.
The two play a similar style of tennis where they move well from the baseline, can control points on clay, and both can rely on their serve for free points when they need to, though Rune likely has the advantage there. Because of this, form will come into play that is all in Rune’s favour. He not only has shown the ability to limit errors and hit aggressive shots on big points, but he has done that against some of the best in the world. Ruud has been more error prone and lacked the ability to take over a match, so while this will be close, it will go in Rune’s favour.
Prediction: Rune in 3
Main photo credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
