Casper Ruud-ly ends Holger Rune hopes in Scandinavian scrimmage at Roland Garros

WATCH: Ruud held his nerve after rolling through the first two sets to reach his second straight Roland Garros semifinal.

PARIS—Casper Ruud has come alive on the terre battue, battling past Danish rival Holger Rune, 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to reach his second straight semifinal at Roland Garros.

“It's for sure maybe the biggest win of the year for me considering how the year has been, so very happy with it,” Ruud said in press.

In a rematch of their 2022 quarterfinal, Ruud looked nothing like the player who struggled through the first five months of this season and proved more poised against the electric but erratic No. 6 seed, securing victory in two hours and 44 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Though Ruud and Rune captured a news cycle when they last played in Paris, the two faced off more recently, with the latter avenging the defeat with a comeback victory at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia after trailing Ruud by a set and a break.

The victory illustrated just how far the 20-year-old had come since reaching his first Grand Slam quarterfinal exactly one year ago, having gone on to win his first Masters 1000 title at the Rolex Paris Masters and reaching two more Masters finals on clay this spring in Monte Carlo and Rome.

Still, it took Rune five sets to overcome Francisco Cerundolo in one of the best matches of the tournament on Monday, bringing Court Suzanne-Lenglen to its feet after winning a fifth-set tiebreaker.

The long match appeared to have taken its toll on Rune in the early goings against Ruud, who won a pair of four-setters early in the tournament but edged through an in-form Nicolas Jarry—who beat him in Geneva last week—in three to return to his first major quarterfinal since last summer at the US Open.

Ruud had struggled to replicate the form that took him to No. 2 in the world before hitting the clay in Rome, where he reached the semifinals. Growing with confidence in front of an error-prone opponent, Ruud eased through the opening two sets as Rune struggled to find the court.

“He deserved to win because, first of all, I wasn't there the first two sets, but you cannot allow yourself to do that when you play a player like Casper, and any player at the top of the game, because it's too long of a way back,” Rune said after the match. “Credit to him for staying there.”

It was only after a tense second game of the third that Rune found his footing, attacking the net to score his first break of the match and ride that momentum into a fourth.

“Compared to Rome, the last two sets that he played there—the last two sets of Rome and compared to the first two sets today was pretty different obviously, and the level was very different,” Ruud said.

Ruud responded with a break of his own in the fourth, winning a long fourth game that he parlayed into a 5-2 advantage. Down match point, Rune kept attacking, putting away a pair of overheads to save the second and continuing to show his touch at net to stay in the match.

Serving for the match, Ruud matched Rune's aggression with aplomb, banging a forehand into the open court to set up three match points. Rune saved two with some fearless backhand winners but couldn't save a third, missing long with a forehand. While the two had been frosty at net a last year, the two exchanged a side hug, perhaps to show how far both had come in 12 months.

Standing between Ruud and a third major final is Alexander Zverev, who defied expectations by returning to the round where he famously injured his ankle against Rafael Nadal in 2022—forcing him to shut down his season. Zverev defeated Tomas Etcheverry in four sets earlier in the day.

“I'll probably say Casper is the favorite for the semifinal, but, again, you know, Zverev, if you asked me one year ago I would probably say that Zverev is the favorite,” Rune said. “It's tough to say.

“Zverev is coming back strong after his injury, but right now I think I see Casper in the final, but again, who knows? We will see. Zverev is showing good shape and good form, so it's going to be an interesting semifinal. Yeah, hopefully it's good for them.”