Another Grand Slam final lost, but Ruud hopes he won respect at French
Open
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[June 12, 2023]
By Julien Pretot
PARIS (Reuters) - Casper Ruud has now lost the three Grand Slam
finals he has played, but the Norwegian believes he has earned
something at the French Open this year - the respect of his peers.
Ruud lost 7-6(1) 6-3 7-5 against Novak Djokovic in his second
straight final at Roland Garros on Sunday as the Serbian claimed a
record-breaking 23rd men's Grand Slam title.
Last year, he was demolished by his mentor Rafael Nadal at the
French Open, before falling in four sets against Spanish prodigy
Carlos Alcaraz at the U.S. Open final in September.
"Obviously anyone you play in a Grand Slam final is going to be a
good player. But the three players I've played is just Rafa going
for, at the time, the record for 22, and then Carlos who was just on
fire in New York, and then here, Novak, going for 23. I played very
tough players, as you say," the 24-year-old Ruud said.
"There have been other players in the final, also in the last years,
who have maybe been more playable or beatable."
Ruud, who has reached the final in three of the last five majors, is
confident the wheel of fortune can turn as he accumulates experience
at the highest level.
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"I can't just sit and make excuses, but let's see what the future
holds. I think this is maybe the most important final that I
reached, honestly, because ... here I sort of proved that whatever
happened last year is just not like a one-time case," he explained.
"Even for next year when we come back to Roland Garros, people are
going to look, 'Oh, Casper didn't just make one final but he made it
twice'.
"Probably going to plant some respect in my opponents' eyes and
hopefully I can build on that."
'CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR'
Ruud definitely earned Djokovic's respect when he made a fast start
on Sunday, opening a 3-0 lead with an early break, before the
Serbian turned the screw and took his opponent into a tiebreak.
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![](../images/061223PIX/sports51.jpg)
Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros,
Paris, France - June 11, 2023 Norway's Casper Ruud poses with the
runner up trophy after losing the final against Serbia's Novak
Djokovic REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
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In the whole tournament, Djokovic has not made a
single unforced error in seven tiebreaks, and he came into the
contest having won the last 100 Grand Slam matches in which he took
the first set.
"There's no bad words allowed here so I don't know what to say. But
you're thinking, you know, the F word because you just lost a really
tough set against Novak," said Ruud.
"He's going to build on it and it's tough to bounce back from that."
It was indeed tough for Ruud, who quickly lost contact in the second
set.
"I let him get away in the second set too easily. That's something I
must build on or be better at if I want to have a chance against
these guys," he said.
Ruud, however, can look ahead with some confidence as his
consistency is likely to give him another shot at a Grand Slam
title.
"I'm gonna try to obviously aim for a slam title. That's my biggest
goal, my biggest dream in my career and in my life," he said.
"It's been close, but no cigar, so I'm going to keep working and try
to get it one day."
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Toby Davis)
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