“Borg has more titles here than him but…,” Casper Ruud ranks Novak Djokovic as the ‘2nd best clay-court player’ of all time

Ruud said that though, after Nadal (14), former Swedish player Bjorn Borg has eight titles at Roland Garros, Djokovic's movement, his resilience, and his ability to rise to the challenge make him more dangerous.

“Borg has more titles here than him but…,” Casper Ruud ranks Novak Djokovic as the ‘2nd best clay-court player’ of all time

Casper Ruud, Novak Djokovic (Images via Imago)

Casper Ruud is all set to have another encounter with Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros on June 5. In the Norwegian’s eyes, Djokovic, with three French Open titles, is the second-best clay-court player of all time after King of Clay Rafael Nadal. 

In the press conference after his fourth-round win, the Norwegian was asked to comment on what he thinks about Djokovic’s game on the red dirt. Ruud said that though, after Nadal (14), former Swedish player Bjorn Borg has eight titles at Roland Garros, Djokovic’s movement, his resilience, and his ability to rise to the challenge make him more dangerous. The 25-year-old also feels Djokovic doesn’t play as heavily as Nadal and has some qualities that have worked for him. 

YouTube video
Yeah, well, you can definitely argue that he's the second-best clay-court player of all time. I mean, obviously, Borg has more titles here than him, but Novak was always close, he always pretty much reached the final and ended up losing to Rafa. And I lost to him last year in the final. I think that he reads the game, you know, unbelievably well. He knows how to use a drop shot well. Obviously, he moves great. So it's tough to hit winners on him.
Casper Ruud said at the press conference 

Ruud secured his fourth-round win in four sets 7-6(8-6), 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 over America’s Taylor Fritz to set himself the quarterfinal clash with the Serb. Except for his second-round match against Felipe Alves, all of Ruud’s wins came in either four or five sets. 

FS Video

How many times has Casper Ruud faced Novak Djokovic? 

The Roland Garros quarterfinal will be their seventh encounter. Novak Djokovic leads the head-to-head record over Casper Ruud, winning five of those matches. 

Casper Ruud
Casper Ruud (Image via Imago)

They first faced each other back in 2020 in the Italian Open semifinals, which the Serb won and continued to win the next four matches. Ruud finally broke the losing streak when he secured a three-set win in this year’s Monte-Carlo Masters. 

While the 37-year-old is searching for his maiden title of the season, Ruud has already bagged two trophies. The Norwegian advanced to multiple finals but won the Barcelona Open and the Geneva Open.

Djokovic, in his fourth round, survived a Francisco Cerundolo scare, and to make things worse during the clash, the Serb hurt his knee when he slipped multiple times on the Philippe-Chatrier court. In his press conference, he even said that he was unsure of his participation in the quarterfinals.

In case you missed!