ATP Roland Garros Finals Preview: Djokovic Aims for 3rd French Open

Ruud Awakening for Zverev in French Open Men's Semifinals

Ruud Eyeing First Grand Slam Title; Djokovic Going After Title No. 23

The men’s semifinals at the French Open were a bit anticlimactic with top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz undone by Novak Djokovic, cramping issues,  and Casper Ruud punching his ticket to his second straight French Open final in routine fashion. The ATP Roland Garros final preview favors Djokovic to come up with his 23rd career Grand Slam title.

Djokovic lost just two games in the final two sets after the world’s top-ranked player finished strong to win the second set and even the match.

Zverev’s return from a major ankle injury in last year’s semifinals at Roland Garros was one of the feel-good stories of the tournament. However, he was no match for Ruud in this one.

Since 2004, Ruud joins Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Djokovic, Robin Soderling and Dominic Thiem as the only players to make back-to-back trips to the French Open men’s final.

Ruud Makes His Point

A quick look at the scoreboard and it might surprise some to realize that Casper Ruud had just one more breakpoint opportunity than Alexander Zverev.

Ruud converted on six of his 10 chances, including all three in the third set with Zverev only able to turn nine break points into one service break.

Ruud on 86% of his points on the first serve in the final set. He had just one unforced error in the set compared to nine for Zverev as he took just over two minutes to win the second semifinal.

Ruud, the No. 4 seed, enters the title match as the underdog according to the ATP Roland Garros finals preview.

Ruud had to work a little harder as he dropped sets to qualifier Giulio Zeppieri in the second round and Zhizhen Zhang in the third round. Ruud jumped up quickly on No. 6 seed Holger Rune in the quarterfinals and won in four sets.

Not Done Yet

The end of the dominance of the Big Three has been a topic of conversation since the retirement of Roger Federer and the injuries suffered by Rafael Nadal. Novak Djokovic is going strong as he looks for his second straight Grand Slam title. The ATP Roland Garros finals preview favors Djokovic to seal the deal.

His eight aces allowed Djokovic to win 72% of the points on his first serve. More impressive numbers might have come when Alcaraz was serving as Alcaraz won just 54% of his points on the first serve.

Djokovic broke Alcaraz seven times and had three more winners than unforced errors to advance to his 35th Grand Slam final and post one of his most impressive efforts when it comes to the French Open results.

Djokovic won his first four matches at Roland Garros in straight sets, although four of those sets required a tiebreaker. He dropped his firs set against Karen Khachanov in the quarterfinals before winning 4-6, 7-6, 6-2, 6-4 and then lost the one set against Alcaraz.

🎾 Ruud vs Djokovic 🎾

Rankings: Ruud 4th; Djokovic 3rd
Date & Time: 
2023 Records: Ruud 22-21; Djokovic 26-4
Location: Court Philippe-Chatrier, Paris
Television/Streaming: NBC

Ruud vs Djokovic Betting Preview

This is not Djokovic’s first rodeo so don’t expect too much of a letdown after his win over top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz.

Djokovic is 4-0 after Ruud. The two never met in a Grand Slam tournament. However, Djokovic did win 7-6, 6-2 in the 2021 ATP Finals event and again at the title match of the 2022 ATP Finals. Djokovic did not face a break point in that most recent showdown.

They played twice in 2022 with Djokovic winning 6-4, 6-3 in the semifinals at the Italian Open followed six months later by the meeting in the ATP Finals.

Djokovic is priced at -450 to take the title compared to +330 for Ruud. The total is set at 38.5.

Djokovic is 2-4 in French Open finals with three of the losses coming to Nadal. There was no threat of Djokovic’s title hopes being ended by Nadal once again as a hip injury prevented Nadal from taking part in the 2023 tournament.

Ruud’s first French Open title match came in 2022 when Nadal won 6-3, 6-3, 6-0. This will be a much different type of match for Ruud and time will tell if the lessons learned in the 2022 final will pay off when he faces Djokovic in his third Grand Slam final and he hopes the French Open scores will look different this time.

He fell to Alcaraz in four sets in the 2022 US Open title match. Djokovic wasn’t able to take part in that tournament because of the COVID vaccination policy for non-United States citizens.

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