Casper Ruud made it to the second week of the 2023 Roland Garros after beating Zhizhen Zhang in the third round.
While the action on the main Court Philippe-Chatrier was postponed due to Elena Rybakina's shocking withdrawal, everything went as planned on the Court Suzanne-Lenglen, or at least for the fourth-seeded Casper Ruud.
In the first round of the competition, the Norwegian started his quest to defend last year's final appearance with a convincing win over Elias Ymer. Although he lost a set to Giulio Zeppieri, he won also in the second round, setting up a clash with history-maker Zhizhen Zhang.
The Chinese player was one of the three players from his country that appeared in the ATP main draw of the tournament after 85 years. Zhang was able to make this achievement even more significant by making it all the way to the third round.
And the Chinese player wanted to take it even one more step further as he was hitting really well in the first set. He got an early break and despite his opponent's effort to break back, Zhang added one more break of serve and won the first set 6-4.
But the second set was when Ruud started showing his qualities. Both players were quite comfortable in their service games, winning many of the to-love, but in the tenth game, the Norwegian felt his opponent's nervousness, breaking him to win the second set 6-4 and level the score of the match.
From there, it was relatively smooth sailing for the fourth seed. He didn't allow his opponent to have any break points and dominated in the third and fourth sets of the match. After two hours and 38 minutes, Ruud won the match 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4, and after the match, he admitted that he was really frustrated early on.
"Yes, it was very tough. I was a bit frustrated in the beginning, I didn't start as good as I hope and he was playing good, hitting many winners. I didn't find any hole in his game and then luckily at 5-4 in the second set, he played some sloppy shots and I got a break and that gave me some confidence and I started playing better and better in the third and fourth and the French crowd was helping me a lot so thank you."
The Norwegian admitted that since he's the defending finalist at this year's event, he's feeling extra pressure, and even though he may seem relaxed on the court, due to the demanding nature of the matches, he feels the pressure and stress.
"I don't feel so relaxed, maybe I look like it, maybe I'm a good actor. Every match is stressful, every match is tough physically and mentally. This year for me is the first time I'm coming here to try to defend a big result with the final last year, of course, I'm thinking a little bit extra about it, I feel a little bit of extra pressure, but if you say I look calm, I will take that as a compliment."
Ruud's team is also helping him along the way, especially the former highest-ranked Norwegian player and his dad in one person, Christian Ruud. The former World No. 39 is giving all of his experience to his son and Casper appreciates that.
"It's a mix of everything. I have my father who is almost always around you. We have also my fitness coach, my agent, my manager, and my family, some friends from high school back in Norway were here. It's a good group, it's a full box and they are, hopefully, happy to watch me and cheer for me."
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