Novak Djokovic vs Casper Ruud Prediction & Betting Tips - Roland Garros

Prediction published on 11/06/2023, 02:00  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 11/06/2023 at 06:55 in Tennis Predictions

Third seeded Novak Djokovic takes on the fourth seeded Casper Ruud in the Roland Garros final on Sunday June 11th. A win for Djokovic will see him go back to the top of the world rankings. Not just that he'll also be top in the ATP Race and it'll be a record 23rd Grand Slam title. Not just that (if all that lot wasn't enough), Djokovic wlll have won all the Grand Slams at least three times if beating Ruud. The Serb won two titles at the start of the year, both in Australia. The Adelaide title was won and swiftly followed by the Australian Open. There have been no tournaments won since then and he's suffered some surprising losses on clay. Now he bids to win a third Roland Garros title and has only dropped two sets on his way to this final. Karen Khachnov took a set off him in the last eight and top seed Carlos Alcaraz won the second set when losing in the semi-finals. Would Djokovic have beaten a fully-fit Alcaraz? It'd have been a much closer match that is for sure.

Casper Ruud is in the Roland Garros final for the second year in a row. Last year he lost to Rafa Nadal but only won six games in a straight sets defeat. He followed that up by losing the US Open final but he's now in his third final in five Grand Slam tournaments. He's up to fourth in the live rankings but can't climb any higher even if he wins this final. If he is to become the Roland Garros champion, he has to do something he's never done before. All four of his previous matches against Novak Djokovic have ended in defeat. Ruud has never even won a set against Djokovic and two of the losses were on clay. Ruud won the clay court Estoril Open this year but that was an ATP 250 tournament. All his title wins have been at that level so winning this Grand Slam would be a major achievement for him. Ruud has lost sets in three of his matches on the way to this final. None were lost in his semi-final though as he beat Alexander Zverev in straight sets for the loss of seven games. Our tip here is for Djokovic to win the title.