candinavian duo Casper Ruud and Holger Rune – each earmarked as potential challengers for the French Open title – have been early qualifiers into the fourth spherical on Saturday.
No6 seed Rune, who has twice overwhelmed Novak Djokovic on clay this season, checked out ease in a 6-4, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Argentina’s Genaro Alberto Olivieri.
Meanwhile, Ruud, ranked fourth within the males’s draw, needed to recuperate from dropping the opening set on his strategy to a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 win towards Zhang Zhizhen.
Both Ruud and Rune, from Norway and Denmark respectively, have eased into the final 16 with little or no consideration on them, the main target within the males’s draw as a substitute predominantly on Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.
Rune has had a comparatively low-key passage into the second week after getting a walkover due to Gael Monfils’ harm within the earlier spherical.
Of that further relaxation, he stated: “If you play the second match you keep the rhythm. You can get into the matches and try to work on your game every day.
“But on the other hand, I see it as a good thing [the missed match] because I get to rest my body fully and got a few more practice days to adjust things I wanted to do better.”
The 19-year-old has confirmed good type on clay this season in beating Djokovic en path to the ultimate of the Italian Open, his closing Roland Garros warm-up event, in addition to being runner-up in Monaco and successful the Bavarian International.
In distinction, Ruud, a overwhelmed finalist in Paris 12 months in the past to the now injured and absent Rafael Nadal, has endured fluctuating fortunes on clay for the reason that begin of April. He gained in Estoril however suffered early exits in Monaco, Barcelona and Madrid.
Going into the second week, he stated: “I still don’t feel like I’m playing error free. I still feel like there are things I can improve, and I can make less errors than I have done in some moments in my matches.
“So, I still feel like there is a level that I haven’t played yet that I can bring out and I will need to bring out now going into the second week.”
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