Casper Ruud will meet Holger Rune in the Semi-Final of the 2023 Italian Open. The match will be played on Friday May 19th, 2023. 

Casper Ruud is the fourth seed here at the 2023 Italian Open and is ranked fourth on the ATP Tour. The Norwegian has built a reputation of being one of the most consistent performers on the circuit, especially on clay. However, this season has not gone to plan thus far, and he will be relieved to find some form just ahead of the French Open. He was able to defeat Francisco Cerundolo for the first time in the Quarter-Finals, getting the better of the Argentine in two tight sets, being very solid from the baseline and taking control of the point when he got the opportunities. As impressive as he has been, he will be up against it here against the in-form Holger Rune, perhaps the hottest player in the world right now on this surface and will have to be at his best if he is to advance to another Italian Open Final. 

Holger Rune is the 7th seed here at the 2023 Italian Open, and is one of the best prospects on the ATP Tour in a long while. Bursting onto the scene last year, he has gone from strength to strength and is now considered one of the main contenders for the Roland Garros crown. He backed those lofty expectations up with an outstanding three set win over world number one Novak Djokovic, beating him for the second time with some aggressive tennis. There is no real weaknesses to his game other than the odd mental lapse, which have been few and far between lately. Despite being ranked lower than Casper Ruud, it is hard to not consider him the favorite to advance here. 

This should be a cracker of a match between two of the top clay court players in the world, and two men who have built a rivalry of sorts. Both are in-form and while Ruud has the experience in his clay court pedigree and ranking, Holger Rune has upside out of this world and is playing outstanding tennis. This can go either way, but i’m going with the young Dane here. He’s riding high after his win over Djokovic, and the upside is too huge to ignore. Give me Rune in three sets, reaching the Final here at the 2023 Italian Open.