2023-06-11 07:33:28
For the second year in a row, the 24-year-old is present in the final of the Parisian Grand Slam. Without being the most impressive on the circuit, it remains one of the most consistent for a year.
Casper Ruud is a mystery. When the Norwegian enters a tournament, he magically manages to be forgotten. Like a tightrope walker, he carefully avoids dropping the slightest sentence that could cause debate when a microphone appears in front of him. On the court, his game, all about efficiency, without flamboyance and superfluous, does not cause much talk. However, as the competition progresses, as the leaders take the door one by one, his name remains, again and again, displayed on the board.
At Roland-Garros this year, on the big board filled in with white marker in front of courts 8 and 9, there are only two left. His and that of Novak Djokovic. For the second consecutive year, Casper Ruud will play a match for the Porte d’Auteuil title. His third final in the last five Grand Slams.
Last year on the Philippe-Chatrier court, facing his idol Rafael Nadal, the Norwegian did not exist, swept away in three sets and 2:18: 6-3, 6-3, 6-0. Three months later, the addition was less salty but the disappointment at least as great. Again opposed to a Spaniard, Carlos Alcaraz this time, Ruud lost in four sets in the final of the US Open. At the same time, he saw his hopes of becoming world number 1 dashed, the winner of the meeting securing first place in the ATP rankings. After another defeat in the final, at the Turin Masters, he ended his exceptional season in third place in the world.
“I am not a flashy player”
At first sight, however, Casper Ruud has nothing very impressive. It’s not the player on the circuit who hits the hardest, not the most creative, not the one with the best touch either. In short, not the one we imagine finding tournament after tournament in the last four. His game is a reflection of his person: simple but efficient and regular. He frolics on the court and returns to the other side of the net all the balls that come to him, which is nothing less than the basis of tennis. Like a leech, tireless, he hangs on until he pushes his opponent to make a mistake.
His speciality ? Ultra-lifted balls, returned to the intermediate zone. Upon hitting the ground, the spinning ball accelerates and gains height. A tan to send back. In the semi-final against Alexander Zverev, he again used and abused it. Without particularly shining, he twisted the German who always ended up, after an extended exchange, by sending a smash into the net or a shot that ended its race behind the baseline. “It never drops below a certain level, or it does but you don’t feel it”analyzed the Dane Holger Rune on Wednesday after suffering the law of the Norwegian.
“I know I’m not a flashy player, who’s going to go for huge shots all over the place. My game is to work the opponent., Ruud explained last year. A style that works particularly on a clay court that he loves. A love for original ocher for a player from a country not really famous for this surgace. No more than it is for its high level tennis players: before Casper Ruud, no Norwegian had done better than a round of 16 Grand Slam on the men’s circuit. The Norwegian in question? His father, Christian, 39th in the world at his best level.
Opposition of styles
After a 2022 season ended with a bang, in 2023, Casper the regular was no longer. During the first three months of the year, the 24-year-old couldn’t win two games in a row. It was once again on clay that the results came back. A title in Portugal, on the ATP 250 in Estoril. Then a semi-final at the Master 1000 in Rome just before Roland. Enough to arrive in Paris with full confidence? Not really. “At the start of the tournament, I really didn’t believe I would make it to the final”he whispered on Friday evening.
This Sunday, on the Philippe-Chatrier court, Casper Ruud and Novak Djokovic will fight a battle of style. On the one hand, a Serb not stingy with outbursts and polemics of all kinds. On the other a smooth and discreet player. On the one hand, a tennis legend who will play to win a 23rd Grand Slam, unheard of for men. On the other, a youngster who only asks to write his name and that of his country on the list of winners of a Major tournament.
Pragmatic, Casper Ruud began preparing for his final on Friday evening. Barely out of the court, he jumped on a bike before diving into an ice bath to recover as quickly as possible from his encounter. Then he planned two good nights sleep. Then to put on Sunday in a “Bulls”best way to play “without too many emotions”. Because it is there, he swears, that he “play (his) best tennis”.
#Casper #Ruud #discreet #Norwegian #deprive #Novak #Djokovic #23rd #Grand #Slam #Liberation