Casper Ruud remained defiant about his future Grand Slam chances after losing the Roland Garros final to Novak Djokovic.
It wasn’t to be for Ruud who lost a third consecutive Grand Slam final after a 7-6(1) 6-3 7-5 defeat to Novak Djokovic.
Despite the defeat it has been a positive tournament for the Norwegian who wasn’t in the best form heading into Paris.
However a second consecutive Roland Garros final ends in defeat for the world number four.
After the match Ruud praised Djokovic’s level throughout the match and admitted the Serb showed why he has won 23 Grand Slam titles, “So he kind of pressures you in a way to go for more risks, and that’s tough, because obviously against him you want to try to play as aggressive as possible, because if you’re too much on the defense he’ll just control the game, he’ll put in some dropshots, and play just from corner to corner,” the Norwegian admitted in his press conference.
“So I think I had a good game plan and it worked well in the beginning. Also because he did some mistakes. But, yeah, he just stepped up, like he knows how to do. It’s not the first time he’s done it. You know, you can see why he’s won 23 with how he’s sort of turned the first set around and stepped up in the second and third when he had to.
“You know, I feel like every time I play Novak it’s in a big match, so he’s motivated to try to win. I feel like I played him many times where he’s like the best version of himself, where he’s just really locked in, and doesn’t give
you much.
“He makes it very tough both, you know, to win every point against him, he reads the game very well, it’s tough to find winners against him. Yeah, just all credits and honour to him for how good he is. I gave it my all, but it wasn’t enough.”
A defeat for Ruud to reflect on as his wait for a Grand Slam title goes on and the Norwegian was asked if there is anything he needs to add to his team to be successful at a Grand Slam.
Ruud said at the moment there isn’t and right now isn’t the time for excuses, “I don’t feel maybe the need for that just yet, but let’s see what the future holds. You never know. It can always be good with new, fresh eyes on your game,” Ruud said in his press conference.
“It’s not something I’ve thought too much about. But yeah, it’s like you say, I mean, obviously anyone you play in a Grand Slam final is going to be a good player. But the three players I’ve played is just Rafa going for, at the time, the record for 22, and then Carlos who was just on fire in New York, and then here, Novak, going for 23. I played very tough players, as you say.
“I can’t just sit and make excuses, but let’s see what the future holds. I think this is maybe the most important final that I reached, honestly, because first time was, yes, very cool. But here I sort of proved that whatever happened last year is just not like a one-time case.
“Probably going to plant some respect in my opponents’ eyes and hopefully I can build on that, and one day I’m gonna try to obviously aim for a slam title. That’s my biggest goal, my biggest dream in my career and in my life. It’s been close, but close but no cigar, so I’m going to keep working and try to get it one day.”
Ruud’s resilience is the reason he is where he is right now as he looks to break his Grand Slam duck one day.
Ending his press conference, Ruud reflected on what he has learned at Roland Garros this year and how feeling pressure has been a good thing, “I think I’ve learned that it’s sometimes good to feel pressure,” Ruud admitted.
“Coming in, I was pretty honest about how I felt in terms of having to sort of try to defend the final spot, what’s at stake, you lose early, you lose over a thousand points in your ranking, and that’s not fun.
“I think I have learned that, you know, best-of-five sets on clay, I’m just gonna know for the future as well I’m gonna try to be a tough player to beat. I’m just going to try to be there, stay there, play every point in the right way, and if I have to make it physical, I’ll try to make it physical for my
opponents.
“I think I’ve learned that last year was just not a coincidence and that I can hopefully have more nice experiences here in Roland Garros in the future.”
