The Spaniard takes on Norwegian Ruud, an unexpected rival perfected in the guts of the Rafa Academy in Manacor
Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud have never met in an official match. But that doesn’t mean they don’t know each other. In fact, they know each other very well, as the Norwegian has been training for a number of years at the Nadal Academy in Manacor, where he has been able to train multiple times with the 21-time champion more than anyone in history.
It was in August 2018 when Ruud, then only one of 150 in the world, decided to join Nadal’s project in the Balearics and train at his school. At the age of 19, the semifinals at the ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro were on his merit list, alongside one of the most promising players in his country, where tennis is scarce due to his talent.
In these nearly four years, the man from Oslo has risen 140 positions in the world rankings, to reach the top ten and become the Norwegian with the best ranking in history, surpassing his father, Christian Ruud, who was 39. in the world in 1995. He won eight titles, all between February 2020 and May 2022 -six on clay and two on cement-, in addition to reaching his first Masters 1,000 final, which he lost to Carlos Alcaraz in Miami and his first final in a Grand Prix Slam, which will play against Nadal next Sunday.
Until this year in Paris, his best record in a Grande was the round of 16 in Australia, achieved this year, indicating the great progression of the Norwegian who, however, started the gravel tour, his best surface, in a very bad way. Between Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Munich and Madrid, he took just four wins, before taking flight, reaching the semi-finals in Rome where Djokovic stopped him, and winning the title in Geneva the week before Roland Garros. Now he faces the ultimate test, the most important match of his career.
“Against Nadal in the final of Roland Garros is the biggest challenge in the sport. He has won all 13 finals here, so it seems like an impossible feat. I’m aware I’m not the favourite, but I have to believe I can win,” admitted the Norwegian, who, despite never officially meeting Nadal, knows him from his training at the academy and likes him a lot. watched TV..
“We played some training sets and he always beat me. We played in his academy and he wanted to be trained,” joked Ruud, who had also enjoyed the thirteen finals that Nadal has won against Philippe Chatrier. “I could even say who they all played with. It’s incredible to be there after seeing him against Federer, Djokovic, Thiem, Wawrinka… It’s something I will always remember in my career” , he added.
For Nadal, Ruud becomes the third lowest ranked rival in a Roland Garros final, on par with Austria’s Dominic Thiem in 2018, who was also eighth in the world, and Mariano Puerta, who was 37th in the 2005 World Cup. circuit.
The Spaniard aspires to a fourteenth title at Roland Garros, which would increase his dominance in Paris and place him in the twenty-second Grand Slam, two above Novak Djokovic, who hasn’t won since Wimbledon 2021, and Roger Federer, who inflicted his last wound in Australia 2018.
“Being in a final is incredible and a significant success. It means a lot to be here again,” the Spaniard acknowledged, who is playing with the cloud of the battered foot over his head this Sunday. “I’d rather lose the final and have a new foot that will allow me to be happier in my daily life. Winning is beautiful and fills you with joy, but life goes on and that’s the most important thing,” were the words of a Nadal who is already number four in the world and who remains very close to third place with a win.
Source: La Verdad
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