Casper Ruud talked about the qualities possessed by Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic ahead of the 2023 US Open.
Heading into the final Grand Slam tournament of the season, there is no doubt that there is one final match that tennis fans would love to see more than any other possible matchup in the draw.
With Alcaraz ranked first on the ATP Tour and Djokovic ranked second, the two can meet only in the final, and that would be a matchup that fans at Flushing Meadows would certainly enjoy.
Last year, it was Ruud who played in the US Open final, losing to Alcaraz, and ahead of this year's tournament, the Norwegian player pointed out the qualities of both of the top favorites when talking to Eurosport.
"Carlos and Novak, they kind of play similar tennis in a way. Just there's one thing that they do opposite. I mean, they have kind of all shots in the book. But Carlos maybe plays at a little higher speed in the way he can accelerate even more."
While both are similar, there are also differences between the two, which Ruud was able to identify. While Djokovic's preferred shot is definitely his incredibly consistent backhand, the opposite is true for Alcaraz, who loves to utilize his forehand.
"But they move great. They have all shots. It's tough to find their weaknesses. They both have a good drop shot. Carlos plays maybe more forehands, Novak defends from the backhand side."
Djokovic, who is also a good impersonator, and Alcaraz are both good on the net and have good returns, which the Norwegian player could recognize as well.
"They're good enough as it is on the net. They've got good hand skills and their returns are great. So obviously it's always going to be a good match-up when they play each other. And you've seen it in the past four times that they've played and they have 2-2 head-to-head."
Despite wanting to play the final himself, Ruud knows that another match between the two is something that everyone wants to see, but the Norwegian will do his best to prevent that from happening.
"It's always been a really, really good match. It's a match-up that is going to be a treat for fans and who knows for how many years. When they play it's going to be interesting and I'm one of the players who are going to try to stop them from playing again here in New York because it means that if they play, it's in the final."
"So everyone else also wants to reach the final, but they're now the guys who mostly fans will keep their eyes on during the tournament. And they're the two biggest favourites for sure."