Casper Ruud has reached 3 grand slam finals, however has didn’t notch up his first win up to now, falling to Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, and maximum just lately to Novak Djokovic on the French Open, handing the Serb his document twenty third grand slam name. Sitting at global quantity 4 on the earth, Ruud enters Wimbledon on just right shape, and beat Frenchman Laurent Lokoli within the first spherical, regardless of grass no longer being his very best floor. ,Wimbledon Live Updates Day 4,
Ruud might be set to satisfy Djokovic within the semifinals if he makes it to that time. The pair have confronted off 5 instances, and Djokovic holds a super document towards the Norwegian. Ruud additionally misplaced to Djokovic within the ultimate of the World Tour Finals in Turin ultimate 12 months.
The Norwegian spoke to Tennis World USA concerning the problem of enjoying Djokovic, and what makes him this kind of ambitious opponent and probably the most a hit male participant of all time. “It’s not just one thing though, but I think he has just taken like defensive tennis on a new level,” mentioned Ruud.
“The means he strikes and the best way he is ready to counterpunch and counterattack from deep, out to the aspect of the courtroom, and it is simply in reality difficult to roughly hit winners towards him, as a result of he strikes smartly and he will get to positive photographs and balls that you do not suppose that he’ll get to. Even from the ones positions he is ready to hit roughly just right counterattacking photographs with just right intensity.”
Ruud has a powerful forehand and is a good mover himself, but he was simply outclassed in big moments by Djokovic, who has an uncanny ability to simply make every shot land inside the court, making the task difficult for his opponents and neutralizing their best offensive weapons.
He is considered to be one of the greatest returners of all time, and has won 32.06% of return games he has played across his career. Only Rafael Nadal has a better percentage among players with at least 500 career matches.
Ruud also appreciated Djokovic’s instincts and reading of the game, speaking about how tough it is to try and outwit him even from good positions. “Yeah, and then he reads the game really well on top of that. So you kind of feel like every time you have a short ball against him, it’s kind of tricky to know which side to go to, because he guesses right many times.”
“Even if he does not wager proper, occasionally he is ready to get there. I believe he is simply taken defensive – I’m no longer going to mention defensive tennis, however how smartly he defends to a brand new degree,” concluded the Norwegian. Djokovic, even at 36-years-old is one of the fittest and most flexible players on the ATP tour, and has won six of the last eight grand slams he has entered — a 52-2 record since the beginning of 2021.
He remains the favorite at Wimbledon, where he has won the tournament 4 times consecutively, and could tie Roger Federer’s record of eight titles at SW19 with a victory this year.