Casper Ruud plays his first Grand Slam final on Sunday.
He will face Rafael Nadal, his idol since childhood.
The Norwegian hopes to become a legend in his first final.
At Roland Garros,
Four years later, the video makes you smile when you think that the two players will meet this Sunday in the final of Roland-Garros.
We are on May 30, 2018, the tournament is already in full swing and an unknown Norwegian named Casper Ruud comes to train at the Jean Bouin stadium, just after Rafael Nadal.
Very shy, the kid, 19 years old at the time, goes to shake hands with the champion and even takes a picture with a little girl.
Nadal doesn't know it yet, but he has one of his biggest fans in front of him.
The type to remember perfectly all his victories at Roland-Garros.
"I think I saw all the finals where he played and where he won, because I watched everything on TV," admitted Casper Ruud after his semi-final victory against Marin cilic.
He arrives in 2018 at the Rafa Nadal Academy
Basically, when you're Norwegian and you want to shine on clay, it's a bit like being an Eskimo who starts surfing in Hossegor: it's not won.
So, to put the odds on his side, the player decided in August 2018 to push idolatry to train in Mallorca, in the heart of the Rafa Nadal Academy.
“Casper came to us to be inspired by the values and the state of mind of Rafael Nadal.
We also find in him qualities common to Rafa, in his tennis as in his personality, ”explained recently Pedro Clar, his coach at the Nadal Academy, on the Roland-Garros site.
A similar style of play on clay
Regarding tennis, if his passport is Scandinavian, Ruud's game is above all Spanish, even inspired by Nadal, as his Pedro Clar still tells us.
“Casper's greatest strength on clay is his legs and his forehand.
Besides that, he is also a player who serves very well.
His pattern of play is simple: take advantage immediately in the rally with his serve, then lead the game with his forehand.
A style clearly close to the Spaniard who is already wary of Carlos Moya, Nadal's coach “He is a player who tries to dominate with his forehand and who has improved a lot in recent years.
He comes with a lot of confidence.
We will see a battle from the baseline with rallies, long rallies”, already announced before the final the winner of Roland-Garros 1998.
The two men like each other
But it's not just in the game that Ruud looks a lot like Nadal.
Work, humility, introverted personality, family, the Norwegian, coached on the circuit by his father, does not make much noise outside the courts either "I am not very well known in Norway, because I am always on the move" , recognizes a very appreciated player.
"He is one of the best educated players on the professional circuit", even assures Toni Nadal, Rafa's uncle, who welcomed him to the academy.
Qualities that the legend of 21 Grand Slam titles also likes.
“His character is very good, he is also very humble.
He is always positive, he seeks to learn.
.
In addition, as I say every time, what I like is to see people who are good, when these people manage to achieve their dreams.
I'm happy for Casper, for his father, for his mother.
I know them very well.
They are fabulous people,” said Rafael Nadal outright after his shortened half on Friday against Zverev.
They only faced each other in training
But after so many bows and courtesies between families, are we still going to witness a real confrontation on Sunday in the final?
For the show, it would still be good for Ruud to leave his respect in the locker room and not let himself be impressed by a master he has never faced in an official match.
Their only common references so far are practice matches at the academy.
“We trained a few rounds in Mallorca.
So I saw him out of the circuit.
He almost always beat me.
Sometimes we were at 7-6, 7-5, but that's because we play at the academy, I want to be nice to Rafa, I'll give him these sets willingly!
laughs the Norwegian.
Not sure, however, that Ruud will give him so many gifts on Sunday at the central.
Like everyone else, the 23-year-old saw Rafa starting to turn 36.
No grand slam final for Ruud against 29 for Nadal
But the inexperience of the Norwegian who will play his first Grand Slam final, could well weigh heavily against the boss of the place “Anything can happen.
But it's usually not easy for a player who has just reached his first final against a player who is used to it, "says Carlos Moya, aware that with his 29 grand slam finals, Nadal clearly has an advantage. on his novice student at this level.
But since it will be necessary one day to kill the father tennistically, what better than the central of Roland-Garros to begin to emancipate himself.
Sport
Roland-Garros 2022: A protester interrupts the semi-final between Ruud and Cilic
Sport
Roland-Garros 2022: Iga Swiatek pays tribute to Ukraine after his victory
Sport
Tennis
Roland Garros 2022
Rafael Nadal
Final
Casper Ruud