In the remake of the tense quarter-final which pitted the two men last year at the same stage of the competition, Casper Ruud once again triumphed. The fourth player in the world dominated Holger Rune in four sets (6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3) and 2:44. At first largely dominating, the Norwegian saw his young opponent (20 years old) come back strong in the third set before regaining control in the final round.
Rune first borrowed
We could have called it a ”scandinavet”, to sum up a poster between Nordiques which really does not keep its promises. But Holger Rune, at first very quickly resigned, as if borrowed or blunted by his very high intensity round of 16 (3:59) against Francisco Cerundolo, had the merit of returning to the match to revive a semblance of suspense.
It wasn’t enough. If he had guts, he really lacked energy and was consumed in a game where he had to take far too many risks to avoid the battle from the baseline.
Stronger, more regular, more efficient in service, Ruud thus beat his first player in the top 10 in a Grand Slam to qualify for the semi-final where he will be opposed to Alexander Zverev.
In the first set, the Norwegian only needed to score two winning points to lead 6-1, while Holger Rune committed five double faults. The second round is similar to the first. The Dane is still not more effective in return, and last year’s Roland finalist remains very solid to lead from the bottom with his heaviness of the ball.
The Dane’s burst of pride
In a match where the two men can’t agree to play well at the same time, Rune escapes the worst by saving a break point in the first game of the third set. Ruud, who commits his first big fouls, gives up his engagement in the next game.
This is enough to restore the momentum of the protege of Patrick Mouratoglou, who wins the rare long rallies (including one of 22 shots), and concretizes his points at the net to seize the third set. The burst is brief in this part which will have lacked density. On a wire, the Dane multiplies risk taking at the net and strikes without security in the fourth set. In vain. Despite two chances to come back from 3-1 to 3-2, two match points saved at 5-2, and two more at 5-3, Rune finally gave in.