Beaten during the last edition in the final of the tournament by the host Rafael Nadal, Casper Ruud, who recently spoke to Eurosport, sees the Spaniard once again lift the Porte d’Auteuil trophy next June. It would be the 15th coronation of the king of clay.
Rafael Nadal crowned for the fifteenth time at Roland-Garros next June? Inevitably, today, with the Mallorcan still at a standstill since his elimination at the Australian Open, it seems hard to imagine. Especially since the king of clay, still not healed from this injury to his left leg (he suffers from an injury to the iliopsoas muscle) which had forced him to finish his second round match on one leg against the American Mackenzie McDonald, has just withdrawn from the Masters 1000 in Miami, just as he had to give up that of Indian Wells.
However, the absence of the former world number 1 having been estimated at six to eight weeks after the Australian Open, the “Bull of Manacor”, who had announced on Tweeter that he was preparing “to return to the best conditions”, should soon be back on the courts. And that’s good for the Spaniard, as the start of the season is looming on his favorite surface.
Ruud dreams of a reunion between Djokovic and Nadal
Casper Ruud, swept away in the final of the last Roland-Garros by Nadal, is convinced that his executioner of last year will return to his best level, just as the record holder of Porte d’Auteuil victories (with fourteen titles) will once again raise the trophy in June. The Norwegian expressed this sentiment quite recently during an interview on Eurosport.
“If Rafa is in good shape, he will be the man to beat at Roland-Garros since he has won the tournament fourteen times, which is crazy (…) It is almost impossible to beat him there”, estimates the number 4 in the ATP ranking, who dreams like many of seeing the Mallorcan find Novak Djokovic, whom he had dismissed on his way last year. But obviously not in the final, even if Ruud is far from being in the shape of his life, and above all very far (he still hasn’t passed the 2nd round mark this year) from the fiery tennis that had allowed him to reach the first Grand Slam final of his life, in Paris (he also played in the US Open final last season).
