Recently featured on the podcast Nothing Major<a href="https://www.archysport.com/2022/01/australian-open-losfee-plays-sinner-and-seppi-in-the-cards-tennis/” title=”Australian Open: Losfee plays Sinner and Seppi in the cards – tennis”>Casper Ruud looked back on his two finals lost against Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic at Roland-Garros in 2022 and 2023.
And the Norwegian recognized that the task could hardly be more complex.
“The two finals that I played, against Rafa in 2022 and against Novak in 2023, I said to myself: ‘Could it be harder… Could we find more motivated players in the ‘history of the game?’ You understand that they are probably going to stay on the court until the death. They don’t want to lose, especially when Novak tries to win his 23e Grand Slam. We know he’s just going to lock it up and we can be 5–1, 40–0 in the first set and he’s probably going to win it one way or another. Against Nadal, with his foot injury, I was quite optimistic. I came in with confidence, I wasn’t too nervous, certainly a little, but I didn’t feel like I had any pressure, but the match started and I was broken in the first game, that’s all. »
Published on Wednesday October 23, 2024 at 4:16 p.m.