The surprising Rune knocked out Ruud and reached the final in Rome eight days before Roland Garros

the Danish Rune Holgernumber 7 in the world, this Saturday he qualified for the final of the Masters 1000 in Rome by beating the Norwegian Casper Ruud (no. 4 and current runner-up at Roland Garros) in three sets, 6-7(2), 6-4 and 6 -2.

The 20-year-old Dane, who he had lost all four of their previous fights with Ruudthe title will be played on Sunday against the winner of the second semifinal that the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (5th ATP) and the Russian Daniil Medvedev (3rd) drew 4-4 until the rain suspended it.

Eight days before the start of Roland GarrosRune confirms his brilliant rise, after eliminating the still world number in the quarterfinals, Serbian Novak Djokovicand together with the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz he seems called to dominate the circuit in the next decade.

AS, he will play his third final in four tournaments on brick dust on Sunday which he played this season, after the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 (defeat against the Russian Andrey Rublev) and the ATP 250 tournament in Monaco, which he beat the Dutchman Van de Zandschulp, when he won the fourth title in his career.

under a light rain, Ruud knew how to control Rune’s ardor during a set and a half, in which He did not allow a single “break” ball. thanks to a very effective serve and his fast legs, which made him return the many drop shots his rival made him.

Ruud seemed to have a foot and a half on the finish when she won the second set 4-2after taking first in the tiebreaker, but at that moment Rune upped his game, coinciding with the time he required medical attention for problems with his right shoulder.

“At the moment I told myself I had nothing to losewhich was probably my last set here, that I had to play freely and I did,” admitted Rune after the match.

The Dane took advantage of his first ‘break’ point to finish 4-4 and there began a new game in which Rune, much more aggressive, allowed Ruud to play only two games until the end, who greeted Roma in the semifinals, as he already did in 2020 and 2022.