ROME/WASHINGTON, May 13, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)
World No. 25 Casper Ruud has advanced to his biggest semifinal since winning the ATP Masters 1000 title in Madrid a year ago. On Wednesday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, despite struggling with his levels following a lengthy rain delay, the 27-year-old Norwegian bested World No. 15 Karen Khachanov of Russia in two of the three sets and won, 6-1, 1-6, 6-2, in one hour and 40 minutes on Campo Centrale. The victory lifted Ruud into the Rome final four for the fourth time.
Following earlier wins during the Roman fortnight against World No. 13 Jiri Lehecka and World No. 10 Lorenzo Musetti, both in straight sets, Ruud recorded his fourth Top-20 win of the season and it was his third career win in four meetings against the 29-year-old Russian.
Since the start of the 2020 season, Ruud leads the ATP Tour in wins (139), finals (17, tied with Carlos Alcaraz) and titles (12). With his victory over Khachanov, Ruud now owns an 8-2 win-loss record in clay ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinals (after starting 7-0).
Dad on a mission 🕵️♂️@CasperRuud98 defeats Khachanov 6-1, 1-6, 6-2 to return to the Rome semifinals for the fourth time this decade!#IBI26 | @atptour pic.twitter.com/QDNodxjL8Q
— Internazionali BNL d’Italia (@InteBNLdItalia) May 13, 2026
“I was happy with the win, of course,” Ruud said during his on-court interview with ATP Media. “There was a bit of a down period in the second [set], when we came back after the rain. I’m very proud of the first and third sets. Ultimately, you know, a win is a win that you will take with you.
“The quality that I played in the first and the third sets are two of the best that I’ve felt on court recently. That’s a good feeling. I’m not really sure what happened at the beginning of the second set, but I just let myself go and tried to regroup and focus on the third. Fortunately, it worked.”
As it happened, the 23rd-seed Ruud jumped out to a double-break lead at 5-1 lead in the opening set after breaking Khachanov’s serve in consecutive service games and also by winning points consistently on both his first and second serves – at better than a 70-percent consistency rate. He closed out the 32-minute set 6-1 after striking his second ace.
One set apiece ⚡️
Ruud and Khachanov are headed to a decider in their quarterfinal, 6-1, 1-6#IBI26 | @atptour pic.twitter.com/4xUxyveCRt
— Internazionali BNL d’Italia (@InteBNLdItalia) May 13, 2026
Then, after the No. 13 seed Khachanov held serve to begin the second set, what started as an intermittent drizzle intensified into rain – enough to require the tarpaulin to be placed over the red-brick clay court. Play was suspended just 40 minutes after the quarterfinal match began. Later, following a two-hour, 18-minute delay, the players returned to the Campo Centrale court at 6:14 p.m. to begin warming up, and play resumed shortly afterward at 6:21 p.m. Khachanov broke Ruud’s serve for the first time to go ahead 2-0.
Next, Khachanov consolidated the break to further his lead; broke Ruud again to gain a double-break 4-0 lead, and promptly held at love to make it 5-0. Khachanov went on to wrap up the 20-minute second set 6-1 by completely turning the tables on Ruud. He outpointed the Norwegian No. 1 27-10 and won all but four of his service points.
Khachanov wrapped up the middle set 6-1 after striking his second ace and it was on to a third set to decide the outcome of the first quarterfinal.
CASPER OUTTA NOWHERE 👻@CasperRuud98 pulls out the tweener in Rome!#IBI26 | @atptour pic.twitter.com/dkSU23x0r3
— Internazionali BNL d’Italia (@InteBNLdItalia) May 13, 2026
In the decider, Ruud’s defensive skills came alive and he won four consecutive games to grab a double-break 4-0 lead as Khachanov imploded after being broken for the second time in the set. Although Ruud surrendered one of the breaks back in the ensuing game, his 4-1 lead proved too much for Khachanov to overcome.
Although the Russian No. 3 found his way through the sixth game and held after saving three break points, Ruud held at love for 5-2 – a quick hold – and he closed out the victory soon afterward.
View this post on Instagram
“We were both playing some good tennis – just not exactly at the same time – but I would say in the third set it was at a high level,” Ruud said. “There were some hot shots – we were both playing well – and those two games from 3-0 to 4-1, where we broke each other once back-to-back, I think was a really high level. I finished at a high level and I’m really happy about that.”
Ruud finished the quarterfinal with 30 winners to 18 unforced errors. He converted five of 10 break-point chances and outpointed Khachanov 68-60. By comparison, Khachanov hit 18 winners but also made 24 unforced errors. He converted three of three break-point opportunities against Ruud.
While the rain delay initially didn’t do Ruud any favors, he settled down in the final set and proved to be the steadier player and will move on to the semifinal round.
Next, Ruud will await the outcome of Wednesday evening’s other quarterfinal, which pairs No. 18 seed Luciano Darderi of Italy against No. 32 seed Rafael Jodar of Spain.
View this post on Instagram
Musetti out of Hamburg, Roland-Garros
According to reporting by La Gazetta dello Sport in Rome and confirmed by other sources, World No. 10 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, who was eliminated by World No. 25 Casper Ruud of Norway, 6-3, 6-1, during Tuesday’s fourth round – hampered by a left thigh that was heavily taped – has announced he will miss both next week’s clay-court event in Hamburg, Germany as well as Roland-Garros, the year’s second major that begins on May 24.
Musetti complained of pain during his stint in Rome and it especially affected his play against Ruud. The diagnosis, according to Musetti, is he has suffered an injury to the rectus femoris of the left leg.
While there is no time table for the Italian No. 2’s return, Musetti’s thigh injury could extend into the beginning of the grass-court season, which starts June 8 with tournaments in Stuttgart, Germany and ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands leading up to the Wimbledon Championships in London, which starts June 29.
Around the Foro Italico
In doubles, unseeded Austin Krajicek of the United States and Nikola Mektic of Croatia advanced to the quarterfinal round with a 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 victory over Americans Robert Cash and and JJ Tracy.
Later, No. 1 seeds Harri Heliovaara of Finland and Henry Patten of Great Britain overcame a lengthy rain delay to defeat American duo Alex Michelsen and Learner Tien, 4-6, 6-4, 10-6, for a berth in the quarterfinals.
Also, No. 7 seeds and home favorites Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori of Italy defeated Andre Goransson of Sweden and Evan King of the United States, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (0), to advance to the last eight.
On Tuesday, German duo Jakob Schnaitter and Mark Wallner lost to No. 4 seeds Christian Harrison of the United States and Neal Skupski of Great Britain.
Wednesday’s Italian Open results
Thursday’s Italian Open order of play
By the numbers
Since the start of the 2024 season, Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina leads the ATP Tour in most wins on clay with 55. Luciano Darderi of Italy and Alexander Zverev of Germany are tied for second with 54. If Darderi defeats Rafael Jodar in their quarterfinal match Wednesday evening, the Italian would move into a first-place tie with Cerundolo.
“Quoteable …”
“I think we are simply in a really good moment, to be honest. Many great players. All different players. You can see it here, a lot of Italian fans here are coming to watch this kind of tournament. I think it’s really, really nice to be part of this movement.
“In the same time today Andrea [Pellegrino] made an incredible tournament, with many, many great memories for him. … Hopefully this can give him a really good confidence boost for the rest of the season and also for his career.”
– World No. 1 and top seed Jannik Sinner of Italy, during his Tuesday news conference, commenting on what he thinks has made Italian tennis so great.
