Casper Ruud and Holger Rune are far from friends on the men’s tennis circuit after their dramatic spat at Roland-Garros, they met again in the semi-finals of the Italian Open. It was Ruud who had the best start as he won the first set, but his rival came back to win consecutive sets to set up a final against either Daniil Medvedev or Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday.
Holger Rune defeated Casper Ruud with a comeback 6-7(2) 6-4 6-2 win in the Italian Open semi-finals.
Rune made his way to this stage with a hard-fought win over Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals.
Ruud had an easier time of it with a two-set victory over Francisco Cerundolo.
The match-up was the first time the pair had met since their controversial clash at the French Open, with no love lost in the meantime.
The 20-year-old Rune was a beaten finalist at the Monte-Carlo Masters and has a clay win this year at the Bavarian Open.
Ruud meanwhile has the 2023 Estoril Open to his name and both were hoping for victory to move up the world rankings.
The first set went to a tie-break, and Ruud raced to clean up by a 7-2 margin.
Midway through the second set, Ruud claimed a potentially vital break, only for the Dane to break back and level the match, to set up a deciding third set.
Ruud ended the match taking just one of his six break points, while Rune raced away in the third set as he asserted his dominance, earning a chance to win his second title of the season so far.
In the day’s other semi-final, Daniil Medvedev will face Stefanos Tsitsipas to decide who will play Rune in Sunday’s final.
