“He never gives up and never complains” Casper Ruud calls Rafael Nadal the ‘perfect example’ ahead of the French Open finals
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Casper Ruud and Rafael Nadal
World No. 8 Casper Ruud advances into his first-ever Grand Slam final having defeated World No. 23 Marin Cilic in the semi-finals of the 2022 French Open. Despite having lost the first set, Ruud had his nerves settled prior to the commencement of the second set and won the match 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 to enter the finals.
With Cilic having won the 2014 US Open and been a finalist at the Australian Open and the Wimbledon, it was assumed that the Croatian’s experience could just help him move past the 23-year old Norwegian who was playing in his first-ever Grand Slam semi-final. While Cilic did draw the first blood, Ruud dictated the terms in the remainder of the match to take the win in 4-sets.
“It was a great match from my side. I didn’t start the greatest but Marin also played very well in the first set. I was too defensive and then I was able to break him in the second set. That got me going a little bit. From that break I played some of my best tennis this year, serving well, super-aggressive, so I’m super happy with the performance today.
“I think Marin is usually the one playing very fast and playing the balls very hard. That was the feeling I got. He was serving big, playing well coming to the net, so I guess I figured I need to step up a little bit and counter-attack and try to go for some faster shots and it helped. It worked out, so I changed a little bit but also raised my level,” said Ruud analysing his match.
Casper Ruud excited of meeting his childhood idol in the finals
With the win over Cilic, Ruud will now take on World no. 5 and 13-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal who advanced to his 14th final in his 18th French Open appearance. Helping Nadal’s cause was the unfortunate injury to Alexander Zverev that left him on crutches and forced him to retire from the match before the two players could engage in a second-set tiebreaker having already played over 3 hours.
“I guess I have worked on (staying calm) because when I was younger I was a bit of a cry-baby. I cried too much and was always too negative. But I guess I also grew up a little bit and matured over the years. Looking up to Rafa, the player I’m going to play in the final, he never complains and he’s a perfect example of how I think you should behave on the court – never give up and never complain. He’s been my idol for all my life.
“Being in the final is very exciting. It’s what we are dreaming about when we are young. It’s still a dream. Playing Nadal in a Roland-Garros final is the toughest challenge in our sport probably. I will be the underdog, I’ll try to enjoy, I’ll have to believe that I can do it. I played great in the 3rd and 4th sets. I could probably tell you all the finals Rafa played here with the opponents. To be among all those guys is incredible to me, I’ll be proud of it in the future, thinking about my chances.
“In all the matches I’ve played, I was supposed to win, so that was a pressure. Sunday I’ll be the underdog and he’ll probably have this pressure. I will have a shot at it. I watched so much tennis on TV when I was a kid that, in a sense, I thought I couldn’t be part of it. I wasn’t picturing myself too much. Now I’m older, I grew up, playing Roger here in the 3rd round in 2019, and making a Masters-1000 semi-final in 2020 helped me to keep going,” added Ruud further during his press conference after the win over Marin.
Also Read: BREAKING: Rafael Nadal to take a break after Roland Garros, will miss Wimbledon
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)