Casper Ruud states if he is playing better now compared to his ‘best year’ in 2022

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Casper Ruud has continued his dream run at the Italian Open in Rome by battling into the semifinals.

Ruud defeated Karen Khachanov 6-1, 1-6, 6-2 in a roller-coaster Italian Open encounter that was disrupted by rain.

The Norwegian, who is the 23rd seed at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament, now takes on 18th seed Luciano Darderi.

Darderi is enjoying a memorable run of his own in front of his adoring fans, having just beaten Rafael Jodar 7-6(7-5), 5-7, 6-0.

The Italian is now preparing for another tough task against Ruud, who has discussed his current level ahead of the clash.

Casper Ruud feels like a ‘better player’ now compared to 2022

Referencing his 2022 season, when he reached two Grand Slam finals and climbed to his career-high rank of second, Ruud told Tennis Channel: “You know, at times, and especially the first and third set today, was some of the best I’ve felt on court in a while, and that was a good feeling.

“Really feeling like I could set up my forehand and hit it with confidence and depth and heaviness and flat it out every now and then.

“So it’s hard to say. Ultimately or generally, I feel like a better player in 2026 than what I was in 2022 when I had my best year. So sometimes results can be a bit coincidental.

“But I always kind of strive to be a better player. And results, they kind of come and go a bit, but I do my best every day, and I’m happy to see that some hard work is paying off this week.”

Without an ATP title this season, Ruud claimed three titles in 2022, all on clay, as well as losing in the finals of the French Open and US Open.

Casper Ruud reaches Rome semifinal despite ‘frustrating’ rain delay 

World number 25 Ruud also analyzed his latest match in Rome in detail, having been left frustrated by the rain delay.

Discussing the back-and-forth nature of his tie with 13th seed Khachanov, he said: “Yeah, interesting match.

“And not maybe the most typical of clay court matches where you go like really three close sets and this and that, grinding. But it was a bit interesting.

“I mean, I started great and really took care of my chances in the first set, broke him two times on two break points, and kind of played almost a perfect or flawless set without too many errors and these things.

“So was kind of frustrating or annoying when the rain came in, and I was feeling like I had good momentum.

“And it was an interesting rain delay today, because it was around two-and-a-half hours. And it obviously didn’t rain for two-and-a-half hours.

“But the last hour, they were trying to fix the court because everything looked to be ready, except for one kind of corner back in the far right corner of the court was filled with water when they took the covers off.

“So they kept telling us ‘another 10 minutes, another 10 minutes, another 10 minutes’, and then we’ll be ready like three, four or five different times.

“When you hear the ‘be ready in 10 minutes’, you kind of try to keep warm, you try to keep moving, and you don’t let yourself eat too much, even though we probably should have today.

“So you’re just kind of snacking all this small stuff, like a banana, bar, easy stuff to get some energy. But we were kind of on our toes for 50 minutes to an hour before getting out, and it was a little demanding and kind of draining mentally.

“And then finally when we got out I didn’t find the court and Karen definitely did, and stuck it to me. And luckily, I woke up in the third and played some great tennis again to finish the match.”

It wasn’t the only match interrupted in Rome, with Darderi’s meeting with Jodar briefly suspended after smoke drifted over from the Coppa Italia football final at the nearby Stadio Olimpico.

Elsewhere at the Italian Open, Jannik Sinner plays against Andrey Rublev, with Daniil Medvedev taking on Martin Landaluce in the other quarterfinal.