Casper Ruud, qualified in the final of the Masters 1000 in Rome, after a match stopped by rain for 2 hours

“4th time lucky” and a smile is the message left by Casper Ruud on camera, after he prevailed in the first semi-final of the tournament in Rome and advanced to the premiere in the last act.

The Norwegian remains a fearsome player on the red surface, despite a less-than-stellar recent spell, and proved it at the Foro Italico game after game, including in the semi-final against home favourites, the young Luciano Darderiaged 20 years.

This was coming after a grueling match in the quarter-finals with Rafael Jodarwhich was interrupted due to the smoke reaching the tennis courts from the Stadio Olimpico, where the final of the Italian Cup was played, won by Inter's Cristi Chivu.

Even if there was an exchange of breaks in the first three games, the Nordic quickly took control of the match. He evolved exactly on his favorite surface, where he masters the effects, the angles, the movement very well. to 4-1 however, the rain that had started for some time became too strong to allow the game to continue.

Casper Ruud, dominant in front of Luciano Darderi

The two players returned to Campo Centrale after a break of one hour and 59 minutes, resuming the duel from where they had left it. And still with Ruud at the helm. He closed the set with 6-1then pulled away to 4-0 in the second.

At 1-4, the Italian showed the most visible signs of struggle, of resistance, which materialized, however, only in break chances, canceled by the opponent. In the end, it was 6-1, 6-1 for the former world No. 2, one of the more lopsided semifinals at the Foro Italico, but with its context.

PERSEVERED. 🇳🇴@CasperRuud98 defeats Darderi 6-1, 6-1 to make his first final in Rome at the fourth time of asking!#IBI26 it @atptour pic.twitter.com/1g8uY7z59I

— Internazionali BNL d'Italia (@InteBNLdItalia) May 15, 2026

Extremely fair-play, as always, Casper began the answer to the first question of the interview on the field by signaling the special situation in which Darderi found himself.

Casper Ruud: “We did well, forcing mistakes from his racket”

“I feel sorry for Luciano, he played at home, probably not with much energy, understandably so, he finished at 2:30 and what a game he had! What a tour he had! Fortunately for me, I played earlier than him, I had more time to recover” said Ruud.

“It's also my 10th Masters 1000 semi-final, his first, so I tried to use that experience to my advantageI think I did well, he was probably stressed because of the occasion, but I tried to stay focused, in my tunnel and I did well, forcing mistakes from his racket,” continued the Norwegian.

Regardless of the opponent in the final, Jannik Sinner or Daniil Medvedev, it is his own evolution that pleases him. “I'm happy and proud to be in the final for the first time, it's a good feeling, after a rough start to the season I've managed to pick up some momentum, let's see if I can continue like this“, he emphasized.

For Ruud, it is the fourth Masters 1000 final of his career, the previous ones being Miami 2022lost to Carlos Alcaraz, Monte Carlo 2024assigned to Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Madrid 2025won over Jack Draper. In the semifinals in Rome he was in 2020, 2022 and 2023.