Rune hoping for “less drama” in Roland-Garros quarter-final rematch with Ruud

Casper Ruud and Holger Rune will go head-to-head in the Roland-Garros quarter-finals, just as they did last year.

That 2022 encounter won’t soon be forgotten. Not only was it competitive on the court (Ruud prevailed in a tight four-setter), but there was also plenty of bad blood involved. A feisty affair ended with a cold handshake before a war of words — and allegedly even some shouting — spilled over into the locker room.

“Obviously there was drama last year and I hope we can make less drama this year,” Rune said after defeating Francisco Cerundolo in a fifth-set tiebreak on Monday. “We played each other in Rome. It was a good match, I think.

“He’s a good player. I respect him. There’s no problem; we’re good. (It) should be a match without problems, hopefully. (I’m) just looking forward for it. Obviously I lost last year. It’s gonna be the same scenario; we play in a quarterfinal, maybe night session again, maybe not. We’ll see. Hopefully I can turn it around and make it different this year.”

Ruud leads Rune 4-1 in head-to-head series

As Rune mentioned, these two rivals recently faced each other at the Rome Masters and the 20-year-old Dane finally got the best of the match-up following four previous losses. Rune won 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-2 in the semi-finals before falling to Daniil Medvedev in the title match.

There were no obvious incidents in their Rome meeting — just a first-ever win for Rune. Now the world No 6 hopes for more of the same a few weeks later: another victory and no drama.

“I think last year it was a great match,” he reflected. “It was (a) really close second and third set. He played great. He played I think one of his best tournaments last year here. So it’s going to be a tough match. I played him last tournament in Rome; managed to get my first win over him.

“But, yeah, it’s gonna be tough.”

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