"He is the favourite but other players can win" - Ruud previews Djokovic at the Australian Open
ATP
Casper Ruud spoke about Novak Djokovic's chances of winning his 10th Australian Open title ahead of the 2023 edition of the tournament.
While Djokovic will be the top favorite to win in Melbourne, Ruud will be one of the players who will try to stop him from winning the title. The Norwegian would likely prefer to face the Serbian on the clay courts, as he knows how good Djokovic is at the Rod Laver Arena.
Ruud spoke to Eurosport ahead of the tournament, and it was clear that he was excited by the fact that Djokovic could tie Rafael Nadal's 22 Grand Slam titles. It's a historic battle that not only fans but also current players likely enjoy.
"It’s a big number! Let's see how he deals with it because it's something, to get to 10, I can only imagine and it's something to actually tie the record of Rafa, so there's a lot at stake."
"He has not been a guy known for choking, to put it this way, or letting these things get into his head, but I think it's a different situation chasing a record, and actually setting and tying a record could be different."
Ruud knows that Djokovic will be the favorite, but at the same time, he also knows that the Serbian player is beatable. A couple of youngsters showed that last year, and others will try to take inspiration from that this year.
"He is the favourite but there are other players that have the potential to beat him, to win. He has shown himself to be somewhat not human Down Under lately in previous years."
"But you know, at the end of last year, he did lose a couple of matches - at the Laver Cup he lost to Felix [Auger-Aliassime] and in Bercy, he lost to Holger [Rune]."
Ruud, who is part of the young generation of players, wants to take that motivation and try to challenge the nine-time champion.
"So let's see if the younger generation can try to push him a little bit this year because that would be motivating for the younger guys. If you can deal with Novak and play well with him at the Australian Open, it would mean that you're doing something right."
