French Open 2024: Casper Ruud vs Alexander Zverev preview, head-to-head, prediction, live streaming details

Published at :June 6, 2024 at 7:58 PM

Modified at :June 6, 2024 at 7:58 PM

(Courtesy : @AllAboutHQ/X and Getty Images)

Ruud and Zverev prepare for their first face-off in the ongoing season.

Casper Ruud will be thanking his lucky stars he did not have to go up against defending champion Novak Djokovic and got a free pass into the last four of French Open 2024. Ruud trails in his head-to-head with the Serbian, 1-5. Djokovic was at his tenacious best in his previous two matches before leaving his campaign at Roland-Garros unfinished due to a right knee injury.

Before his aborted encounter against Djokovic, the Norwegian played back-to-back four-set matches against Tomas Martin Etcheverry (6-4, 1-6, 6-2, 6-2), and Taylor Fritz (7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-4, 6-2). Having spent over six hours on court for those two matches, Ruud will be taking it easy until his semi-final against Zverev on Friday.

Alexander Zverev is in his fourth consecutive Roland-Garros semi-final after overcoming Alex de Minaur 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-4 on Wednesday. Zverev recovered after letting go of an advantage while leading with a break of serve in the first set to take the opener. The German then rallied from a 3-5 deficit in the second set tiebreak to take control of the proceedings.

Zverev too had a prolonged stay on court in the third and fourth round matches on Court Philippe Chatrier against Tallon Griekspoor (3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (3)) and Holger Rune (4-6, 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-2), spending close to eight hours and 30 minutes on court to complete the formalities.

Casper Ruud vs Alexander Zverev – Match Details

Date: June 7th, Friday

Time: TBD

Venue: Stade Roland Garros, Paris

Casper Ruud vs Alexander Zverev – Preview

Zverev is inching closer to his first Grand Slam title in Paris. His win over Alex de Minaur made him only the 11th man in the Open Era to reach four Roland-Garros semi-finals in a row. The German succumbed to Ruud a year ago at the same point at the 2023 French Open in straight sets. The winner in Friday’s first semi-final will go on to play either Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner for the big prize.

There hasn’t been a German winner at the French Open since Henner Henkel in 1937 and no Scandinavian either has lifted the title since Sweden’s Mats Wilander in 1985.

Casper Ruud is a two-time finalist at Roland-Garros and has three Grand Slam final appearances under his belt.

Head-to-Head

Matches – 4

Casper Ruud – 2

Alexander Zverev – 2

Ruud has prevailed over Zverev the last two times the pair met. In 2022, it was the Miami Open quarter-final, and at the 2023 French Open it was in the last eight. The 2-2 split does not reflect the walkover by Ruud in Acapulco in 2021.

Where and how to watch live streaming and TV broadcast of French Open semi-final between Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev in India?

Friday’s first semi-final between Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev will beam live from Paris. The broadcast will be available for Indian viewers on Sony Sports Network. The network’s streaming service SonyLiv will also provide live coverage of the match.

Prediction

Zverev and Ruud had easy opening rounds but had to dig deep in the subsequent rounds to get to the semi-finals of the tournament. Zverev ran into headwinds in the third and fourth rounds, while Ruud was stretched between the Round of 64 to the Round of 16 matches.

Zverev is 33-8 against 24-6 by Ruud at Roland-Garros. Ruud outclasses Zverev overall this season with a 39-9 win-loss record in contrast to Zverev, who is at 33-9. On clay courts, Ruud maintains the edge at 21-4 compared to Zverev’s 15-3. Ruud is an impressive 30-1 after winning the first set, while Zverev trails with 22-2.

The German, however, has won his previous 10 matches, while Ruud has been victorious in eight of 10. Ruud (4-1) narrowly leads Zverev (4-2) against the top ten players this season.

Out-muscling the German will require Ruud to push for longer rallies and upset the German’s rhythm.

Result: Ruud to win in four sets.

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