Nuno Borges of Maia, Portugal delivered a monumental upset at the 2025 French Open on Wednesday. Borges, the 41st ranked player in the world, upset Norway’s Casper Ruud, the eighth ranked player, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-0 in the second round.
The fact that Ruud is out so far is stunning. He is a three-time grand slam finalist as he reached the final two at the 2022 United States Open, and the 2022 and 2023 French Open. Earlier this year Ruud won his first ATP Masters 1000 series title of his career, and it happened to be on clay as he won the Madrid Open.
On Tuesday, Ruud was no match for Borges, who broke his Norwegian opponent eight times in 12 opportunities. Borges was the more accurate server, as he had zero double faults compared to four for Ruud. In a match that lasted two hours and 17 minutes, Ruud had 38 unforced errors compared to 21 for Borges.
Borges was the underdog at +280, compared to Ruud, who was -400, prior to the match. However one must remember that Borges delivered a significant victory on clay last year. At the 2024 Swedish Open final, Borges beat the King of Clay, Rafael Nadal of Spain, 6-3, 6-2. This just so happened to be the last ATP final Nadal ever competed in during his Hall of Fame career.
Next up for Borges is Australian Alexei Popyrin, the 25th seed. This will be their first ever meeting. Popyrin is one of three Australian men left in the main draw. He is joined by Adam Walton, and the ninth seed, Alex de Minaur. On the ladies side, Daria Kasatkina, the 17th seed, is the only Australian left.
