"You can never feel comfortable playing Nadal" says Casper Ruud

| by Balasz Virag

Casper Ruud got the full Nadal experience earlier this year when he lost in the Roland Garros final and he's ready to face him again.

When Ruud faced Nadal in the Roland Garros final earlier this year, he had high expectations, but it was a non-event as Nadal dominated his way to yet another trophy in Paris. They will face off at the ATP Finals many months later, with Ruud having advanced to the semifinals and Nadal having already been defeated.

"You can never feel comfortable playing against Rafa, no matter what form he is in or what shape," explained Ruud about the upcoming match.

"Oh, no, Kokkinakis. Where is Kyrgios?" - Kokkinakis on disappointed fans in Turin
"Oh, no, Kokkinakis. Where is Kyrgios?" - Kokkinakis on disappointed fans in Turin

"I mean, he's had two tough losses here. Yeah, the match on Thursday is going to be quite different conditions than when we played in Roland Garros this year, that's for sure. It's faster. It's not best-of-five. It's on a hard court. Everything is different. But you can never count Rafa out. He has proven that many times," added Ruud.

Winning all three matches would be a dream for Ruud but he understands Nadal is coming in wanting to avoid going winless:

"I'm sure he will seek some sort of revenge for his two losses and finish his ATP season in a good way. I will try to keep it rolling for the semifinals. It would obviously be a dream feeling to move out of the group with three wins."

Ashleigh Barty set to return to Australian Open but not as a player
Ashleigh Barty set to return to Australian Open but not as a player

Read the full article

Just in

Look at more articles