Casper Ruud Hopeful To Get His Long-Awaited Italian Open Breakthrough

Casper Ruud is aiming to reach his first Rome Masters final in his career after triumphing over Karen Khachanov in the quarter-finals. The Norwegian star has reached the Italian Open semi-finals three times in his career and has never gone beyond that stage of the tournament, but he now has the chance of changing that.

Ruud, a three-time Grand Slam finalist, made his debut at the Italian Open in 2016 and made it to the third round, beating British star Dan Evans and former World No.13 Nick Kyrgios. A year later, he then got to the semi-finals for the first time after beating Marin Cilic and Matteo Berrettini. He reached back-to-back semi-finals from 2020 to 2023.

On Wednesday (May 13), he faced Khachanov in the quarter-finals of the Italian Open. He was in control of the match before weather conditions halted his momentum. At 6-1, 0-1, Ruud was prepared to serve, but play was suspended for more than two hours, effectively resetting the match dynamics.

When play resumed, Khachanov sharply responded, taking advantage of the erratic phase from Ruud to move ahead with consecutive breaks. The Russian star seized control of the match to force a decider. But in the third set, Ruud found his rhythm and sustained his dominance to win the match 6-1, 1-6, 6-2.

The former Madrid Open champion now has an opportunity to reach the final as he will face Luciano Darderi in the semi-finals. Ruud is tipped to win the match easily and earn his place in the final of the tournament for the first time. When asked about his chances of reaching the championship match, Ruud reflected on his previous semi-final defeats in Rome:

I was up a set and maybe a break, I believe, but he really stepped up and came back in that match. Unfortunately, none of them are my next opponent, in a way, because they’re both great players and they’re fun to play against. Holger, we know, is soon to return, so we wish him a speedy and quick recovery. Novak is Novak, so I won’t play either of those tomorrow, but no matter who it is, I will be ready for a really tough match.

Rud failed to defend the Madrid Open despite being one of the favorites to win the tournament. Just like the Italian Open, he was the favorite to beat Alexander Blockx in the quarter-finals, but he fell to the Belgian star in straight sets. Ruud must not underestimate his opponent, Darderi, ahead of their semi-final clash, and he’s projected to face Jannik Sinner in the final.

Casper Ruud happy for his quarter-finals victory despite obvious flaws

Casper Ruud struggled after the two-hour play suspension against Karen Khachanov in the quarter-finals of the Italian Open. The former top 10 star’s level dipped in contrast to the authoritative baseline patterns he had shown in the opening set of the clash. However, following the break, he returned to the court with a new mindset, which helped him win the tie.

It could have gone the other way round, as Khachanov was in better momentum in the second set. A little slip from Khachanov saw Ruud regain his confidence. Far from a convincing victory, Ruud admitted that he was only focused on winning the match despite his flaws, particularly in the second set:

Of course, there was a little bit of a down period in the second when we came back after the rain, but I’m very proud of the first and third set. Ultimately, a win is a win. That’s what you take with you. The quality that I played in the first and third set is probably some of the best I’ve felt on court recently, so that’s a good feeling. We were both playing some good tennis, just maybe not at the exact same time.

This is the first time that Ruud dropped a set at the 2026 Rome Masters. He has been flawless since the start of the tournament, beating Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 6-4 in the third round and Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 6-1 in the fourth round. He hopes to earn another victory against Luciano Darderi in the semi-finals.

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