After a scintillating run in Paris, Casper Ruud is now on the cusp of a maiden Grand Slam singles title. He however faces 13-time French Open champion, Rafael Nadal, in the final on Sunday. The Spaniard is aiming to become the oldest to win the Roland Garros title and capture his 22nd Slam trophy.
Nadal holds a 13-0 record in the French Open final. On the other hand, Ruud will be playing his first Grand Slam final. He defeated 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic in the semi-finals. Despite the odds being heavily stacked against him, Ruud does have a brilliant clay-court record behind him to put up a challenge against Nadal.
Clay court record
The 23-year-old Ruud who is currently the world number eight is also the first Norwegian man to reach a Grand Slam final. He turned pro in 2015 and his career-best ranking is seven which he achieved in April this year. He has an overall 143-79 win-loss record with eight titles to his name and seven of those trophies have come on clay. His only other non-clay title win came on the hard court at San Diego in 2021. All of his eight titles have come at ATP 250 events.
In April this year, Ruud made it to the final at Miami to reach his first ATP Masters Series summit clash. He lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the final. In total, he has won 30 out of the 39 matches he played in 2022. And has won 66 matches on clay since 2020, 15 more than any other tennis player on Tour.
Strengths
Ruud is a physically strong player who can cover the court well and has a solid backhand but his heavy forehand shots are his biggest strength. He is also very strong on the second serve. Ruud leads the French Open leaderboard for second-serve points won (64 per cent).
Nadal connection
Ruud and Nadal have never played against each other professionally but have practiced against each other quite often. The Norwegian has been training at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Spain since September 2018.
Ruud who termed Nadal as his "idol", had this to say about his training at the academy: "We have played some practice sets [at the academy]. And, yeah, it's been, I don't know honestly, but (Rafael Nadal) always pretty much has always beaten me. There's been some close sets, 7-6, 7-5, but it always goes his favor. But it's because we are playing in the academy and I want to be nice to him and give him (the win)."
Ruud speaks on the final
The Norwegian admitted ahead of the final that he has watched all of Nadal's final matches in Paris, but added that he will give his best in the final.
"I probably watched all of them," Ruud said. "I think I could probably tell you all the finals and who he has played and who he has beaten, because I watched them all on TV.
"It's going be amazing to be there myself when you have seen players like Puerta, Federer, Djokovic, Thiem, all the guys who have played him in a final.
"So, to be a part of that group myself is something I can always brag about after my career. Hopefully, I will, of course, give it a shot at the title, and it would be nicer to be able to brag about the title as well after my career.
"I will try to figure something else out other than in the practice, how to beat him. I will just enjoy the moment. This is a special occasion for both of us."
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