French Open 2023: Casper Ruud vs Zhizhen Zhang preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds, and pick | Roland Garros
Match Details
Fixture: (4) Casper Ruud vs Zhizhen Zhang.
Date: June 3, 2023.
Tournament: French Open 2023.
Round: Third round (Round of 32).
Venue: Paris, France.
Category: Grand Slam.
Surface: Outdoor clay.
Prize money: €49,600,000.
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel, NBC Sports, Peacock TV | Canada - TSN | UK - Eurosport | India - Sony Ten.
Casper Ruud vs Zhizhen Zhang preview
Two-time Major finalist Casper Ruud will take on World No. 71 Zhizhen Zhang in the third round of the 2023 French Open on Saturday.
A straight-sets win over Elias Ymer put Ruud into the second round, where he was up against Guilio Zeppieri. A single break of serve was enough for the Norwegian to capture the opening set. He further asserted his dominance in the second set, breaking his opponent's serve twice en route to clinching it.
Ruud held four break points on Zeppieri's serve at the start of the second set, but failed to make the most of them. It proved to be costly for him, as the Italian broke his serve in the last game of the set to take it.
Ruud stepped up his game in the fourth set as he put himself in the driver's seat after snagging an early break. He served for the match at 5-4, but Zeppieri broke his serve to remain alive. The Norwegian broke back immediately in the next game and proceeded to serve out the match after that to win 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.
Zhang, meanwhile, knocked out Dusan Lajovic to set up a second-round showdown against Thiago Tirante. The Chinese led by a break for most of the first set, but fumbled while trying to close it out. Nevertheless, he gained the upper hand in the ensuing tie-break to claim the opener.
Zhang went on a three-game run in the second set to go 5-2 up and bagged the set soon after that. A lone break of serve in his favor put him in the lead in the third set. The Chinese wasted a match point on Tirante's serve at 5-3, but wrapped up the match in the following game to win 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-4.
Casper Ruud vs Zhizhen Zhang head-to-head
This will be the first meeting between them, so the head-to-head stands at 0-0 for now.
Casper Ruud vs Zhizhen Zhang odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Casper Ruud vs Zhizhen Zhang prediction
Ruud was playing some solid tennis against Zeppieri until his level dropped towards the end of the third set. He regrouped quite well in the fourth set, but had trouble closing out the match.
After a shaky clay swing, he's a bit low on confidence, but the Norwegian is slowing finding his rhythm at the French Open.
Meanwhile, the tournament has already proved to be quite a success for Zhang. He has made it to the third round of a Major for the first time in his career.
The Chinese struck 32 winners in the previous round, while committing two less unforced errors. Ruud, on the other hand, recorded 34 winners and 28 unforced errors. He'll be quite vary of Zhang, who has scored wins over players like Taylor Fritz, Cameron Norrie and Denis Shapovalov in recent weeks.
The Norwegian's game is tailor-made for clay, but he could find it tough to go toe-to-toe against an inspired opponent. Ruud has been fairly inconsistent in recent weeks, but given his prowess on the red dirt, he's likely to put an end to Zhang's fairytale run in Paris.
Pick: Casper Ruud to win in four sets.
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