On the eve of Roland Garros, ausopen.com asked several Australian tennis icons about who might stand a chance against prohibitive favourite Jannik Sinner.
“The only one who seems to have brought any consistency to that is probably Casper Ruud,” answered Todd Woodbridge, the 22-time Grand Slam doubles champion.
“He has that ability, has the history [at Roland Garros]. And then in Rome to play well, make a final.
“If anything happens to Jannik, he, at the moment, is the second favourite for me.”
Well, something did happen to Sinner, with the dominant world No.1 suffering physically in an extraordinary five-set upset loss to Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the second round.
And Ruud continues winning. The Norwegian saved two match points to outlast Tommy Paul in five sets on Friday night in Paris, returning to the second week at Roland Garros.
Ruud is a two-time French finalist and one of the game’s most fearsome forces on clay, having also reached at least one final at all three claycourt Masters events.
In a 2026 men’s draw decimated by upsets, is this shaping as Ruud’s moment to strike?
“It's such an open tournament, which is kind of refreshing, I guess, for everyone, and to see that there will be a new slam champion in about a week or so,” Ruud acknowledged. “I think every player is aware of it.
“Obviously Novak [Djokovic] and Jannik was one of the two highest favourites, and Jannik definitely the favourite. It will be interesting to see where we are in a week's time.
“I'm going to try to use the experiences that I've had of reaching far in Slams to my advantage and see where that takes me, but you focus one match at a time.
“I have an incredible task ahead of me with a young special talent like Joao.”
Ruud refers to Jaoa Fonseca, who recovered from two-sets-to-love down – for the second straight match – to oust Djokovic in one of the contests of the tournament.
It’s Djokovic’s earliest Grand Slam exit since the 2024 US Open, and just the second time he’d fallen before the fourth round at a major since 2017.
Djokovic was also the last remaining Grand Slam winner in the men’s singles draw, meaning a new champion will be crowned in Paris.
A new wave of talent appears hungry to take advantage of this golden opportunity. There’s Fonseca and fellow teenager Rafael Jodar – both through to the second week of a major for the first time – while Jakub Mensik, 20, joined them in the fourth round after upsetting No.8 seed Alex de Minaur.
Also remaining are 20-year-olds Learner Tien and Martin Landaluce, plus 17-year-old French phenom Moise Kouame. That trio reside in the top half of the draw and play their third-round matches on Saturday.
Yet Ruud is the player remaining with perhaps the best CV at Roland Garros, a back-to-back finalist in 2022 and 2023 and semifinalist in 2024.
Second seed Alexander Zverev is also a previous finalist in Paris, and the two remain on track for their third Roland Garros semifinal meeting in the past three years.
While No.2 seed Zverev has cruised, Ruud has been pushed to the limit in two of his three matches, surviving brutal conditions and another five sets against Roman Safiullin in the first round.
With the weather promising to cool in the second week, and Ruud’s famed fitness holding up, the former world No.2 is feeling good as he eyes a trophy that has come within tantalising reach.
“I'm feeling surprisingly well,” said Ruud, a three-time Grand Slam finalist.
“Of course, towards the end [of the Paul match] you start feeling it. Obviously the weather cooled down towards the last couple of sets … but it was another hot day.
“I think one more hot day tomorrow. I doubt I'll see the courts tomorrow. So [I’ll] just try to use those next, let's say, 36 or 40 hours of recovering and be ready as I can.
“It's the beauty of Slams, and the days off, we try to use them as much as we can. Typically you come here and practise maybe a little bit, but I think I'll save all the energy I have for Sunday and take it from there.
“I have no pains at least, so that's the most important, and see if I can recover … [and] if I can give him [Fonseca] a good match and fight.”