Ruud Upbeat After Loss In Final: ‘Last Year Is Not A One-Time Case’
Casper Ruud lost major finals at Roland Garros and the US Open last season. Competing in his third major title match on Sunday, the Norwegian fell short at the final hurdle again, losing against Novak Djokovic in Paris.
Despite defeat, the 24-year-old is pleased with his latest achievements in the French capital and feels his run sent a statement to his rivals.
“I think this is maybe the most important final that I reached, honestly, because the first time was, yes, very cool. But here I sort of proved that whatever happened last year is just not a one-time case,” Ruud said. “Even for next year when we come back to Roland Garros, people are going to look, ‘Oh, Casper didn't just make one final but he made it twice’.
“It is probably going to plant some respect in my opponents' eyes and hopefully I can build on that, and one day I'm going try to obviously aim for a Slam title. That's my biggest goal, my biggest dream in my career and in my life. It's been close, but no cigar, so I'm going to keep working and try to get it one day.”
Ruud defeated sixth seed Holger Rune and two-time semi-finalist Alexander Zverev en route to the final. The Norwegian started well against Djokovic in the title match, but was unable to fend off the 36-year-old, whose straight sets win moved him to a record 23rd majors. Ruud praised Djokovic’s mentality following his record achievement.
“I feel like every time I play Novak it's in a big match, so he's motivated to try to win. I feel like I played him many times where he's like the best version of himself, where he's just really locked in, and doesn't give you much,” Ruud said. “He makes it very tough to win every point against him, he reads the game very well. It's tough to find winners against him. All credit to him for how good he is."
Ruud later added: “He's one of the biggest legends of our sport, and hopefully one day I can beat him. But at the major level, it's going to be tough for sure."
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Djokovic now leads Ruud 5-0 in their ATP Head2Head series. When asked why the third seed is so hard to face, the 10-time tour-level titlist was quick to explain.
“He kind of pressures you in a way to go for more risks. That is tough because obviously against him you want to try to play as aggressive as possible, because if you're too much on the defence he'll just control the game,” Ruud said. “He'll put in some drop shots and play from corner to corner.”
Ruud now holds a 0-3 record in major finals.
“Anyone you play in a major final is going to be a good player. But the three players I've played are Rafa [Nadal] going for, at the time, the record for 22, and then Carlos [Alcaraz] who was just on fire in New York,” Ruud said. “Then here, Novak, going for 23. I played very tough players.”
Ruud, up to eighth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, will now turn his focus to the grass season. The 24-year-old will compete at the ATP 500 in Halle later this month.