The ITF's Katrina Adams stays on the front lines for women with the Tory Burch Foundation Sports Fellowship

NEW YORK—Casper Ruud could face rival Nick Kyrgios in what many would anticipate to be a contentious US Open semifinal, but the Norwegian revealed a thaw in their long-standing beef in press on Tuesday.

“We didn't say ‘Hi’ in the locker room for some time, but we do now, so it's better,” Ruud said after dominating Matteo Berrettini in straight sets on Arthur Ashe Stadium. “There was a time where it was a bit probably tense after things were said back and forth.”

That tension was well-documented both on court and on social media, stemming from a classic Kyrgios meltdown at the 2019 Internazionali BNL d’Italia clash when the Aussie was defaulted for flinging chairs towards the crowd.

I mean, we didn't say hi in the locker room for some time, but we do now, so it's better. There were a time where it was a bit probably tense after things were said back and forth, but he actually came to me in Laver Cup last year and congratulated me when I won my match, which was nice. Casper Ruud

Ruud returned serve in press, calling Kyrgios “an idiot,” which set the stage for an equally classic Kyrgios sledge, saying he’d “rather watch paint dry” than watch Casper play tennis.

Their rivalry continued last summer when Kyrgios tweeted his disdain for the summer European clay swing, a part of the calendar Ruud just so happened to be dominating.

It evidently wasn’t until Laver Cup last September when the two hashed things out in person, Kyrgios' congratulations to Ruud on a match win doubling as an ice-breaker.

“I think it's easier now, and things have been forgotten. Things have been said, but there is no need to dwell on the past. I mean, he's, yeah, exciting player always to watch, and you never know what's gonna come out of his racquet or his mouth, but in the end, at least he came to me and said that he was happy to see me play well. So that was nice.”

Ruud and Kyrgios last faced off on hard courts during March’s BNP Paribas Open, where the future Wimbledon finalist won in straight sets, but Kyrgios will first have to win his own quarterfinal against Karen Khachanov—having just dethroned defending champion Daniil Medvedev in the fourth round.

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