Trois finales en Grand Chelem et trois défaites... Casper Ruud doit commencer à se sentir maudit. Ce dimanche, malgré un premier set de qualité, le Norvégien a été dompté par Novak Djokovic en finale de Roland-Garros, 7-6(1), 6-3, 7-5. Il n'a pas pu empêcher le Serbe de devenir le premier homme à aller chercher un 23e titre du Grand Chelem et de redevenir numéro 1 mondial. Ruud a tout de même eu le mérite de sauver ses 1200 points de la finale de l'an passé et de montrer qu'il faisait bien partie des meilleurs joueurs de la planète. Peut-être encore un apprentissage avant d'enfin réussir à remporter un tournoi du Grand Chelem. Devant les médias, le Norvégien est revenu sur la physionomie de la finale, sur son blocage à ce stade de la compétition et sur le record mythique de Djokovic.
Category
🥇
SportTranscription
00:00 It is often said that tennis is an individual sport,
00:04 but it is never more beautiful than when it is collective.
00:09 BNP Paribas, faithful to tomorrow's tennis for 50 years.
00:15 I think obviously it was the game at 4-2 that was unfortunate.
00:20 It was some deuce here and there, and then finish with a really long rally
00:25 where I missed the overhead, which was sort of a bit devastating.
00:30 But I was still leading, so I don't think I lost because of that,
00:35 but it would be nice to sit down and have 5-2, and then there's new balls, obviously.
00:41 That was tough, but I just stepped up in the tie-break.
00:46 I played too good there in the beginning, especially,
00:53 and had a big lead early, and I couldn't recover.
00:56 I was a bit disappointed that I wasn't able to keep it close in the beginning of the second.
01:02 He pulled away too early and I wasn't able to recover.
01:06 The third set was close. I didn't really have too many chances myself,
01:11 but I just tried to hold my serve, stay in there and see what happened.
01:15 I feel like men, every time I play, it's in a big match,
01:20 so he's motivated to try to win, and I feel like I played him many times
01:24 where he's the best version of himself, where he's just really locked in
01:29 and doesn't give you much.
01:31 He makes it very tough both to win every point against him,
01:35 he reads the game very well, it's tough to find winners against him.
01:39 So, yeah, all creds and honour to him for how good he is.
01:44 I gave it my all, but it wasn't enough.
01:47 Hi, Kasper. Could you give us an idea of what it is like to be down the other end of the court
01:54 in the first set compared to the second set?
01:57 Because he seemed... I know you played very well in the first set,
02:01 but he seemed like two different players.
02:03 Yeah, I think I had a good start, and he did some errors early on,
02:08 maybe feeling a bit nervous, a little stressed, I don't know.
02:11 But I got some free points in the beginning, and I was up 3-0.
02:15 That was a great way for me to start, and then from there on he just minimised the mistakes, really,
02:21 and found his level, found his groove.
02:24 And when you're playing him, it's sort of like if you're hitting a forehand,
02:30 for example, for myself, who prefer to hit maybe winners with my forehand,
02:35 if I hit a strong forehand that is this close to the line against any other person,
02:41 most of the time it's going to be a winner, but to him he's going to read it and get there,
02:47 so you know that you have to hit it this much to the line, or on the line,
02:50 to hit a winner against him.
02:52 He kind of pressures you in a way to go for more risks, and that's tough,
02:59 because obviously against him you want to try to play as aggressive as possible,
03:03 because if you're too much on the defence he'll just control the game,
03:07 he'll put in some drop shots and play just from corner to corner.
03:10 So I think I had a good game plan, and it worked well in the beginning also,
03:14 because he did some mistakes, but he just stepped up like he knows how to do.
03:19 It's not the first time he's done it, and you can see why he's 1-23,
03:24 with how he turned the first set around and stepped up in the second and third when he had to.
03:30 Hi Kasper. I wanted to ask you about the tiebreaker, not just this one,
03:36 but others that you have played against him.
03:38 What makes him so tough in that bracket of those last few points?
03:44 Yeah, he just steps up.
03:47 Either he plays ridiculous defence or he plays beautiful winners.
03:50 He just doesn't do any mistakes.
03:54 He lets either you go for too much or he plays a beautiful winner.
03:58 I mean, the first point of the tiebreaker, we play a good rally,
04:01 I kind of have him on the run on the forehand cross,
04:03 and then he just rips a beautiful forehand down the line, this close to the baseline.
04:07 So it's sort of like too good.
04:09 And then the two next points are also long rallies where I can't exactly remember,
04:13 but in the end I think I miss one forehand, then I go for the winner, and so on.
04:17 So he just locks in and makes...
04:23 You have to play either ridiculously well to win the points,
04:27 or he steps up with the winner himself.
04:29 So he knows how and when to step up.
04:32 He's smart. He's played so many matches where he knows where he kind of has to raise his level.
04:37 So yeah, it's just annoying for me, but very, very impressive.
04:43 Kasper, you've played three Grand Slam finals now against three exceptional players,
04:47 but you've lost all three.
04:49 It reminds me a bit of Andy Murray's career in that he lost his first four,
04:53 and as a result brought in even Lendl because he'd been through something quite similar in his career.
04:59 I wonder if you've maybe consulted people who've been through similar things
05:02 or might start to think about a voice that could give you that experience
05:07 or someone who's been through something similar.
05:09 Not yet, honestly. I don't feel maybe the need for that just yet,
05:15 but let's see what the future holds. You never know.
05:17 It can always be good with new, fresh eyes on your game.
05:21 So let's see. It's not something I've thought too much about.
05:26 But yeah, it's like you say.
05:29 I mean, obviously anyone you play in a Grand Slam final is going to be a good player,
05:33 but the three players that I've played are just Rafa going for, at the time, the record for 22,
05:40 and then Carlos, who was just on fire in New York, and then here, Nowak, going for 23.
05:47 So I've played very tough players, as you say.
05:49 So it's just... There have been other players in the final also in the last years
05:54 that have maybe been more... What should I say? Playable or beatable,
06:00 because these guys know what to do, but I can't just sit and make excuses.
06:06 But let's see what the future holds.
06:08 I think this is maybe the most important final that I've reached, honestly,
06:13 because the first time was, yes, very cool,
06:15 but here I sort of proved that whatever happened last year is just not a one-time case.
06:20 And even for next year, when we come back to Roland-Garros,
06:23 people are going to look, "Oh, Kasper didn't just make one final, but he made it twice."
06:27 So I'm going to probably plant some respect in my opponent's eyes,
06:32 and hopefully I can build on that.
06:34 And one day I'm going to try to obviously aim for a slam title.
06:39 That's my biggest goal, my biggest dream in my career and in my life.
06:43 So it's been close, but no cigars.
06:47 I'm going to keep working and try to get it one day.
06:52 That first set was such a war. I think it was 82 minutes or something like that.
06:57 When you went back to your chair and you sit down and you have that break,
07:02 what's going through your head and what do you tell yourself
07:05 to get yourself ready for the next one?
07:07 Well, there's no bad words allowed here, so I don't know what to say.
07:11 But you're thinking, you know, the F-word,
07:16 because you just lost a really tough set against Novak.
07:20 He's going to build on it, and it's tough to bounce back from that.
07:24 It was also very physical.
07:26 And today was a bit humid in a way, so it was kind of tough.
07:32 Tough conditions out there, but you just try your best to cool down
07:39 and find energy and power for the next set.
07:42 I wasn't able to, and that was a bit disappointing.
07:44 I let him get away in the second set too easily,
07:47 and that's something I must build on or be better at
07:51 if I want to have a chance against these guys.
07:53 It's tough losing a first set like that after almost an hour and a half.
07:59 It's tough, and it's tough to recover from that.
08:03 I tried, but it showed that it was a very tough task.
08:08 Hi Kasper.
08:11 Just wondering what you've learned about yourself
08:14 during the last two weeks,
08:17 as you said, backing up what you did last year.
08:20 Obviously, the start of the season wasn't ideal,
08:23 so coming here and making it all the way to the final,
08:26 what have you learned about yourself?
08:28 I think I've learned that it's sometimes good to feel pressure.
08:33 Coming in I was pretty honest about how I felt
08:38 in terms of having to try to defend the final spot,
08:42 what's at stake.
08:43 You lose early, you lose over 1,000 points in your ranking,
08:47 and that's not fun.
08:49 In terms of ranking, if you're ranked number three or four,
08:53 six or seven, it doesn't really change too much in my eyes.
08:56 As long as you try to stay top ten,
08:58 that's the goal for many players, including myself.
09:00 If I had lost earlier in the final this year,
09:03 I would have probably dropped down,
09:04 but it was a nice two weeks and a nice experience
09:08 to be able to perform under pressure.
09:10 I think I've learned that the best of five sets on clay.
09:16 I'm just going to know for the future as well
09:19 that I'm going to try to be a tough player to beat.
09:21 I'm just going to try to be there, stay there,
09:23 play every point in the right way.
09:26 If I have to make it physical,
09:28 I'll try to make it physical for my opponents.
09:30 I think I've learned that last year was just not a coincidence
09:35 and that I can hopefully have more nice experiences
09:39 here in Roland-Garros in the future.
09:41 Hi Kasper.
09:43 Going back again to that end of the first set,
09:46 beginning of the second set,
09:47 I'm just curious, were you aware of that, let's say,
09:51 freaky stat that Djokovic had won the last 100 Grand Slam matches
09:57 after winning the first set?
10:01 Were you aware of that stat?
10:02 No, I wasn't, but that's just crazy.
10:05 Like I said on court, he holds all the records
10:09 and these stats that are just ridiculous.
10:11 It just shows how complete of a player he is.
10:14 He can win on any surface, anywhere, any balls that we play with.
10:19 He will be up for the challenge.
10:22 Now it's probably the most significant record that he broke of 23 slams.
10:27 On the male side, that's the record for now,
10:32 but I'm sure he will aim for even more if I know him the right way.
10:37 He's not done yet, I think.
10:40 Hi Kasper.
10:45 Obviously, you've only just finished the French Open,
10:47 but Wimbledon's around the corner.
10:49 Daniel Medvedev said that he's made friends with Klay now.
10:52 Do you think you can make friends with Graz?
10:55 Yeah. Honestly, I think it's fun to play on Graz.
10:59 Whenever I said last year that Graz is for golf players,
11:06 it was more of a joke that got taken too seriously.
11:09 But I think it's fun to play.
11:12 It doesn't suit my game very well.
11:14 I feel a little uncomfortable on it.
11:16 If there's any time of the year where I need some rest
11:20 and I need to recover a little bit from a long Klay season,
11:22 it's a couple of weeks during Graz, so that's why I don't play too much.
11:26 But it's always so fun to come to Wimbledon.
11:29 It's maybe the most historic event that we have.
11:35 If you ask people around the world,
11:38 I think most people will say that they've heard about Wimbledon
11:41 because of the name and all these things.
11:43 So I really look forward to being back there
11:45 and this year we're playing for points again.
11:47 So I'm going to try to be ready and give it my best effort.
11:52 I have become friends.
11:54 I enjoy being on the golf course and I enjoy being at Wimbledon.
11:57 So it's a nice surface.
12:02 It's crazy to think that tomorrow starts a couple of tournaments on Graz
12:11 when we're sitting here fighting, sliding around on Klay.
12:14 So it's going to be a refreshing start
12:16 and it's always fun to watch some Graz tennis.
12:18 Hi Kasper, tough luck today.
12:22 I just wanted to go back to ask you about facing Djokovic in a tiebreak
12:26 because his tiebreak record is so extraordinary.
12:28 He hasn't hit an unforced error in a tiebreak this tournament.
12:32 I just wondered how conscious you are of that mode that he goes into in a tiebreak
12:38 when you enter a tiebreak with him
12:40 and whether that's something you actively prepare for ahead of a match with him.
12:44 Honestly, no.
12:45 I just know from previous meetings that no matter the score against him,
12:49 he'll always try to fight back, especially around 4-0, 5-0, 6-0.
12:54 It sort of just goes into this mode where he just becomes like a wall
12:59 and you know that you're going to have to play really well
13:02 if you want to win points against him.
13:04 So it's just honestly all creds to him.
13:08 He knows when to step up.
13:11 I hadn't maybe visualised playing a tiebreak in the first set.
13:16 Maybe I should have, maybe I will for the next time.
13:18 But I know now that this is the fifth time where there has been a close set
13:27 and he's been able to win it.
13:29 So I'm just going to try my best to one day hopefully beat him,
13:33 even though he said no on court after.
13:36 He's one of the biggest legends of our sport and hopefully one day I can beat him.
13:42 But at the Grand Slam level it's going to be tough for sure.
13:45 (laughs)