French Open 2023: 'There was drama' - Holger Rune and Casper Ruud set to meet a year on from explosive row
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Updated 07/06/2023 at 05:56 GMT
Holger Rune and Casper Ruud were embroiled in a spat during the 2022 French Open when the former accused the latter of disrespect. Rune claimed Ruud gloated in his face after winning on the night but this was denied by his opponent. Now a year on, the Scandinavian rivals are set to do battle once again. Stream the 2023 French Open live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.co.uk.
Rune v Ruud 'an unbelievably important step for tennis in Norway and Denmark'
Wednesday’s blockbuster match between Holger Rune and Casper Ruud in the French Open quarter-finals will evoke memories of last year’s heated battle between the highly-rated Scandinavians.
The pair are set to meet again in a rematch of last year’s fiery last-eight clash when Rune accused Ruud of showing him a lack of respect as a spat between the tennis stars also embroiled their parents.
The row erupted when Rune claimed that Ruud gloated in his face after winning 6-1 4-6 7-6(2) 6-3 on the night.
Rune’s claims were denied by Ruud’s camp, with his father Christian telling Eurosport: “It is simply a lie from Holger.”
In response, Rune’s mother Aneke said: “One thing is that you shout in my son's face. Another thing is that the father is lying to the press."
The war of words intensified with Ruud accusing Rune of lying in a Eurosport Norway interview.
“It never happened. It’s a big lie. It’s disappointing that he creates lies about me,” he said.
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Although Ruud leads the head-to-head series 4-1 heading into Wednesday’s epic encounter, Rune will take confidence from coming from behind to beat his rival 6-7(2) 6-4 6-2 at the Rome Masters in May.
“Obviously there was drama last year and I hope we can make less drama this year,” Rune said ahead of the rematch.
“We played each other in Rome. It was a good match, I think.
“He’s a good player. I respect him. There’s no problem; we’re good. It should be a match without problems, hopefully. I’m just looking forward for it. Obviously, I lost last year.
“It’s going to be the same scenario; we play in a quarter-final. Hopefully I can turn it around and make it different this year."
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He continued: “I think last year it was a great match.
“It was a really close second and third set. He played great. He played I think one of his best tournaments last year here. So it’s going to be a tough match.
“I played him last tournament in Rome; managed to get my first win over him. But, yeah, it’s going to be tough.”
Rune – who has been tipped to win Grand Slam tournaments in the future by Eurosport expert Mats Wilander – reached the quarter-finals in Paris for a second consecutive year after a dramatic five-set win against in-form Francisco Cerundolo.
Ruud has not hit the heights expected of him so far this year but he went some way to silencing his critics after some poor performances with a hard-fought fourth-round victory over Nicolas Jarry in what is a much-needed morale boost ahead of this crunch match.
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Stream the French Open live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.co.uk
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