After losing to Holger Rune recently in Rome, Casper Ruud was complimentary of his Scandinavian rival.
“I think he's probably going to get his best Grand Slam result yet in Roland Garros this year,” Ruud said.
The trouble is, should Ruud’s prediction prove correct, it would come at his own expense.
Ruud and Rune are set for a quarterfinal clash at Roland Garros, a year after their meeting at the same stage of the same tournament.
It was memorable in many ways, with Ruud winning in four sets and exchanging a tense handshake with Rune at net, before the pair engaged in a war of words that played out in the media.
Tensions have obviously thawed significantly since then.
The handshake last month in Rome was noticeably warmer, and both have praised the other during interviews.
“Obviously there was drama last year and I hope we can make less drama this year,” Rune said after his nail-biting five-set victory over Francisco Cerundolo, decided in a final-set tiebreak.
“He's a good player. I respect him. There's no problem. We're good. Should be a match without problems, hopefully. Just looking forward for it.
“Obviously I lost last year. And it's gonna be the same scenario, we play in a quarterfinal, maybe night session again, maybe not. We'll see.
“Hopefully I can turn it around and make it different this year.”
As the relationship has shifted, so too has the balance of power.
Ruud’s win over Rune last year in Paris improved his head-to-head record over the Dane to 4-0; at that time he was ranked world No.8 while Rune was 40th.
Now, Rune has joined the Norwegian in the top 10. His ascendancy was reflected in their Rome semifinal; Ruud led by a set and a break, only for the 20-year-old to storm home.
Rune has since risen to a career-high world No.6, snapping at heels of Ruud, ranked No.4.
Not only does he have Ruud in his sights on Wednesday at Roland Garros, but he is also targeting a first Grand Slam semifinal – a result that would help him along the path to his ultimate goal.
“I think to be able to be No.1 in the world you need to be able to win Grand Slams. I haven't done it yet,” Rune said.
“I have a chance here to do it, but now (I’ve) just got to focus on one match at a time.
“The (opponents) on the ranking is getting higher and higher, so I have to play better. I have to do few things I think better in the next match to be able to go out as a winner.
“I still believe that I can achieve what I want to achieve. I think there is still a long way … so I have to dig deep and do everything I can, and obviously I believe I can make it.”
Rune is soaring on clay this year, winning 16 of 19 matches after defending his Munich title, reaching Masters 1000 finals in Monte Carlo and Rome and returning to the Roland Garros quarters.
Ruud, by contrast, has struggled.
He admitted to feeling pressure to defend the points earned from reaching last year’s French final. Early losses in Monte Carlo, Madrid, Rome and Geneva have increased that pressure, with match wins at a premium for the long-term health of his ranking.
However, his form and confidence are trending in the right direction – good news for when he faces an ambitious opponent with momentum behind him.
“I don't feel like I have played my best maybe tennis yet, but at the same time, I'm playing many opponents who play very aggressively and they play fast and sort of give me no rhythm,” he said after eliminating Geneva champion Nicolas Jarry in the last 16.
“I think my next match is going to be a little more playable from the baseline.
“In Roland Garros and in best-of-five sets it's a little easier… you feel like you have more time so you can maybe allow yourself to go for some bigger shots because you can allow yourself to do even more mistakes, in a way.
“I have always been the player who wins matches on doing few unforced errors, but at some times, the balls that I hit is not sort of hurting my opponents enough.
“I think that has cost me in some matches today that I haven't been able to sort of hit through the ball enough, but here at Roland Garros, I feel like it's working better.”