Blog

TennisSection previews the 2023 French Open semifinal match featuring Casper Ruud vs. Alexander Zverev on Friday, June 9, 2023

Ruud vs Zverev Match Details

Where is the match taking place: Casper Ruud vs. Alexander Zverev will take place at the Stade Roland Garros, Paris, France, for the 2023 French Open.

What is the start time: Casper Ruud vs. Alexander Zverev will start (TBD)

How can I watch: The match will be telecast live on Eurosport – UK, NBC & Peacock – USA, SuperSport – Africa.

Ruud vs Zverev Head-to-Head

Alexander Zverev leads Casper Ruud 2-1 in their head-to-head, winning both matches on hard courts. Ruud took their last meeting at the 2022 Miami Masters in three sets. This semifinal clash at the French Open will be their first official meeting on clay.

Ruud vs Zverev Prediction

We have a fascinating battle in store in the semifinals of the French Open as fourth seed Casper Ruud faces Alexander Zverev, the 22nd seed, for the right to reach the final. Ruud was in a similar position 12 months ago and he brushed off Croatia’s Marin Cilic in four sets to reach the showpiece where he was outclassed by the King of Clay Rafael Nadal. Zverev has fallen at the semifinal stage in successive seasons in Paris (last year he retired after rolling his ankle painfully in his gripping semifinal against Nadal). So the German will look to reach his first Major final since the 2020 US Open. Zverev took a while to get into a rhythm. He’s ingested some terrible losses since his return to action, losing to the likes of Michael Mmoh, Marc-Andrea Huesler, Taro Daniel, and Christopher O’Connell in the first half of the season. But he’s refined his game in the lead-up to the Roland-Garros, reaching a semifinal in Geneva and played himself into form in the first week here.

Zverev has accounted for high-quality wins over Tiafoe, Dimitrov, and Etcheverry – who before the quarterfinal had not dropped a set all tournament. Ruud has looked shaky on serve in a couple of his matches this fortnight. If he remains prone to such lapses, he could keep Zverev interested, and as we’ve seen from him he only needs a sniff at this tournament. Zverev has tallied 181 winners in the 10 days he’s played and was hyper-aggressive behind Etcheverry’s second serve (won almost 60% of return points). I’m sure Ruud will up his level from his four-set win over Rune, knowing full well Zverev has recovered something of his usual hauteur. It’s a moment of redemption from last year’s injury torment and we reckon the German will have enough bite this time to get over the line.