Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud will face off in the 2024 Roland Garros semi-final, battling it out for the final spot.
The German didn't have an easy road to the semi-final because he had to endure back-to-back five-set matches to get there. He looked tired and depleted against Alex de Minaur, but the Australian didn't play a good enough match to overcome that. He had chances but left them largely unused.
This won't happen against Ruud, who had a tremendous year in 2024. He leads the Tour in wins and has looked strong so far at the season's second major tournament. His semi-final spot came after Novak Djokovic withdrew before their match.
Not playing for four days might disturb his rhythm a little bit, but he should be really energized heading into this match, which might prove a factor if we see a long match, especially with Zverev's fatigue as well.
Head-to-head:
The two have played a few times, and so far, it's been a balanced matchup, with the H2H tied at 2-2. The match we'll closely look at was last year's one at Roland Garros, which was also a semi-final.
Ruud won 6-3, 6-4, 6-0, which is an easy win, but Zverev also had some physical problems. He was also quite tired, which is interesting because he will be tired in this match as well. Generally, the Norwegian favours clay more, but very few have consistently performed as well in Paris as Zverev has.
| Alexander Zverev | Casper Ruud | |
| 2 | H2H | 2 |
| 4 | Rank | 7 |
| 27 | Age | 25 |
| 33-9 | 2024 W/L | 39-9 |
| 427-186 | Career W/L | 246-124 |
Prediction:
This can be a close match, closer than the one last year. A couple of things will determine the winner: Zverev's fatigue, Ruud's rhythm after not playing for a couple of days, and generally, who keeps calm.
Prediction: Casper Ruud to win in four sets.
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