Casper Ruud continues to enjoy an impressive clay court season after reaching the Italian Open semifinals.
Ruud fell to his lowest ranking in five years after the Madrid Open, but he has bounced straight back in Rome.
The Norwegian is now into the semifinals, with Ruud beating the likes of Lorenzo Musetti, Jiri Lehecka and Karen Khachanov to match his previous best result in Rome.
Ruud is now seen as the biggest challenger to Jannik Sinner at the Italian Open this year, and he has achieved a feat that the world number one has not following his latest win.
Casper Ruud continues clay court Masters 1000 streak
Ruud won his rain interrupted quarterfinal against Khachanov 6-1, 1-6, 6-2 to reach the Italian Open semifinals for the fourth time in his career.
The 27-year-old is the only player on the ATP Tour to have done this, with even Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz not reaching four Italian Open semifinals since 2020.
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This is not the only record that Ruud has achieved by reaching the Italian Open semifinals, as he has now made it to the last-four of at least one clay court Masters 1000 tournament for seven consecutive seasons.
Ruud’s best result came at the Madrid Open last year, when he beat Jack Draper in the final to win his first Masters 1000 title.
| Year | Casper Ruud’s clay court Masters 1000 semifinals |
| 2020 | Italian Open SF |
| 2021 | Monte Carlo Masters SF & Madrid Open SF |
| 2022 | Italian Open SF |
| 2023 | Italian Open SF |
| 2024 | Monte Carlo Masters F |
| 2025 | Won the Madrid Open |
| 2026 | Italian Open SF* |
The only three ATP players to have achieved this feat other than Ruud are Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
Ruud still has some way to go to match the ‘Big Three’, as both Djokovic and Nadal reached at least one Masters 1000 semifinal on clay for 15 consecutive years, while Federer did it for 14 years in a row.
Casper Ruud could have a big impact on the French Open if he wins his next match
Ruud has lost his three previous Italian Open semifinals, but he now has a golden opportunity to reach the Rome final for the first time.
His previous semifinal losses came against Djokovic (2020 & 2022) and Holger Rune (2023), but Ruud could be the favorite for his semifinal against Luciano Darderi.
Ruud is actually lower-ranked than Darderi, who beat Alexander Zverev at the Italian Open this year, but he is the only one of the two players to reach a Masters 1000 final.
This will be a first-time meeting between Ruud and Darderi, which could have big implications on the French Open this year.
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Ruud has already confirmed his return to the top 20 after his run to the Italian Open semifinals, and if he beats Darderi he will be world number 17 in the live rankings.
Lorenzo Musetti has already withdrawn from the French Open, which means that Ruud would be inside the top 16 seeds if he beats Darderi.
This is consequential, as it means that Ruud would be guaranteed to face a top four seed if he reaches the fourth round of the French Open this year as a seeded player between 13 and 16.
