Jannik Sinner’s shock defeat in the French Open has thrown the field wide open and one contender who will be hoping to take advantage is Casper Ruud.
The Norwegian is a two-time runner-up in the French Open and will be hoping to go one better this time around, and next faces young Brazilian Joao Fonseca in the fourth round.
Casper Ruud vs. Joao Fonseca betting picks and predictions
Casper Ruud to win (-163)
Casper Ruud showed all of his fighting spirit to come from 2-0 down to beat Tommy Paul in the third round of the French Open and he can continue his run with another victory over Brazilian youngster Joao Fonseca.
The Norwegian beat Roman Safiullin in a five-set thriller in the opening round of this year’s tournament before getting the better of Hamad Medjedovic with the minimum of fuss in the second round.
He was two sets down to Tommy Paul in the third before rallying to win the last three sets 6-4, 7-6 and 7-5, taking his place in the fourth round as a result.
With the absence of Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, there is a unique opportunity in this tournament for a lesser light to get their name on the trophy.
Ruud will be hoping that name is his, the clay-court specialist cannot be discounted at Roland Garros and should be too strong for Joao Fonseca.
The 19-year-old beat Luka Pavlovic in the first round before getting the better of Dino Prizmic in a five-set slog in which he came from 2-0 down. Fonseca repeated the trick against Djokovic, rallying from two sets down to beat the legendary Serbian, but those two efforts may have taken their toll on the Brazilian and he faces another tough test against Ruud.
Ruud has won 12 of his 14 tournaments on clay and has been in fine form as of late, reaching the final of the recent Italian Open where he was only defeated by Sinner.
Having reached the final of the French Open in both 2022 and 2023, Ruud knows what it takes to get the job done in Paris and can take advantage of any fatigue that Fonseca may be struggling with after some mammoth battles in the French heat in recent days.
Before this tournament Fonseca had been in middling form, having lost three games on the spin to go 10-9 for the season. That is in sharp contrast with the in-form Ruud and the Norwegian can pick up where he left off with another success.
Casper Ruud -2.5 games (-120)
Casper Ruud has a strong record in the French Open, going as far as the semifinals on all three occasions that he has reached the third round, and he is fancied to overpower youngster Joao Fonseca in this clash.
The Norwegian’s experience of going deep in tournaments means that he will know how to conserve energy and then take the game away from his younger opponent.
Take Ruud to cover the spread as he turns the screw on the Brazilian, who may find the efforts of the last few days catching up with him.
Bet Builder: Ruud to win, 15+ match aces and over 0.5 match tie breaks (+300)
Sixteen of Casper Ruud’s 23 wins this season have come on his favoured surface of clay and he should be able to extend that run with another victory over Joao Fonseca.
Both men are impressive servers of the ball, with Casper Ruud notching 17 aces in his win over Paul while Fonseca had 11 in his victory over Djokovic. The pair should combine for over 15 in this clash.
Expect both men to push each other hard in this clash and over 0.5 tie breaks in the match looks a solid play in what should be an entertaining fourth-round affair.
Casper Ruud vs. Joao Fonseca odds
Casper Ruud | -163 |
Joao Fonseca | +130 |
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
