Casper Ruud gives his take on what makes Rafael Nadal unbeatable on clay
Casper Ruud thinks that Rafael Nadal's domination on clay will continue this season as well.
Casper Ruud and Rafael Nadal at the French Open 2022 final (Image Credit: TennisBuzz)
The French Open 2022 finalist Casper Ruud is excited to be back on his favorite surface — clay. The Monte-Carlo Masters starts next week and the Norwegian is currently participating in the Estoril Open. He is eyeing this year’s Grand Slam on clay, the French Open.
The current World No.5 could have won his career’s maiden Grand Slam title last year, if Rafael Nadal would not have had so bluntly destroyed him in the final of Roland Garros 2022. He lost the match against the Spaniard 3-6-, 3-6, 0-6.
This time, though Rafael Nadal is injured and not in great form, he is still a big threat for the filed in the French Open. Casper Ruud, on his podcast “Ruud Talk” spoke about the qualities which makes the Spaniard so lethal and the reasons for his successes in the French Open.
“If you want to beat Rafa at Roland-Garros, when you are going out to the match, you are thinking, ‘OK, I’m going to have to play the best match of my life for at least four-and-a-half hours because even though I’m playing great, he will play unbelievable back’. If I play well, he [Nadal] plays well, so it’s going to be a long match. Not many players are prepared to do that I think and that’s why you have seen some of the clay court players be so successful on clay,” the current World No.5 said.
“On clay, you can’t really do that because he has the time to set up his shots, he has the time to play good defence. If he’s on it and he’s playing well, there is really not much you can do, unless you are able to match his game, which very few people in the world can do on clay,” he continued.
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Casper Ruud believes Rafael Nadal will win his 15th French Open title this year
The form and fitness of Rafael Nadal is a cause of concern for his many fans. Since, his second-round exit from the Australian Open after losing to Mackenzie McDonald, he has not played a single match. His hip injury resurfaced which led him to miss the Sunshine Double. Many had hoped that the Spaniard would return in the clay swing. However , he decided to not participate in the Monte-Carlo Masters.
But still Casper Ruud is not ready to discount the Spaniard’s chances.. He thinks that Rafael Nadal will return stronger and will be the hot-favorite to win the French Open this year as well. Besides that, he also does not think Nadal will be retiring anytime soon.
“Well, I think that in the last five or six years, as I have participated in the tour, there has been talk that this would be the last year in which Rafa wins. This will be the last year. This year someone better has gone and he’s tired, he’s injured, he’s old and I don’t know what to say,” the Norwegian said.
Continuing his eulogization of Rafael Nadal, Casper Ruud also recollected how he defeated Dominic Thiem in the final of the French Open 2019 despite him playing very well.
“It just seems like it’s made for those conditions. Playing best of five sets. I remember the match Dominic talked about at the beginning of 2019, the final. I remember watching it on TV and I said I was very impressed because Dominic played so well in the first set and still lost 6-3. I was thinking, what the hell can you do to beat him? Because Rafa just had an answer for everything,” he added further.
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Abhar Indorkar
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