Exclusive: Casper Ruud explains why Rafael Nadal is almost unstoppable on clay ahead of French Open
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Updated 07/04/2023 at 10:38 GMT
Rafael Nadal’s unprecedented dominance on clay has been lauded by every tennis player and Casper Ruud – speaking on Ruud Talk – has given his take on why he has such a good record. Nadal has won 14 French Open titles, the most ever, and even at the age of 36 years old, he is still seen as the favourite by some, including Eurosport expert Boris Becker, to win at Roland-Garros this year.
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Casper Ruud has explained why he thinks Rafael Nadal is so difficult to beat on clay on the Eurosport podcast, Ruud Talk.
Nadal is widely regarded as the greatest clay-court player ever, with an unprecedented 14 French Open titles, 11 Monte Carlo titles, 10 triumphs in Rome and is a five-time champion at the Madrid Open.
Ruud was beaten by Nadal, who has delayed his return to tennis due to injury, at the 2022 French Open in straight sets.
“If you want to beat Rafa at Roland-Garros, when you are going out to the match, you are thinking, ‘OK, I'm going to have to play the best match of my life for at least four-and-a-half hours because even though I'm playing great, he will play unbelievable back’,” Ruud said on the latest episode of Ruud Talk, which aired on Friday.
“If I play well, he [Nadal] plays well, so it's going to be a long match. Not many players are prepared to do that I think and that's why you have seen some of the clay court players be so successful on clay.”
Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have won just three French Open titles between them, such has been Nadal’s dominance in Paris.
Ruud believes most players are always relying on one of the all-time greats to not be at their best in order to have a chance of winning.
“Novak and Roger, they are probably the second-best ever clay-court players,” he added. “It's just that it's never really talked about because Rafa has all these records, so it's tough.
“But anytime you're playing one of these great guys or great players, it's tough because you feel like it could be dependent on them a little bit more, especially on clay where the ball is a little slower and they have even more time to get the shots.
“You feel like maybe if you play Rafa on grass or whatever, Rafa has obviously won Wimbledon twice, so he is really good on grass, but you feel like, you can at least go out there and smack some winners and make him uncomfortable.
“On clay, you can't really do that because he has the time to set up his shots, he has the time to play good defence.
“If he's on it and he's playing well, there is really not much you can do, unless you are able to match his game, which very few people in the world can do on clay.”
Ruud has a very strong record on clay, with eight of his nine ATP singles titles coming on the surface.
The Norwegian feels the playing styles and mentality of a player makes a big difference on clay compared to the other surfaces.
“If you look at the top 100 players in the world, I would say like 70 or 75 of them prefer probably to play on hard court,” he explained.
“There are much fewer players that actually like more to play on clay. I feel like I'm one of them and I think that could be somewhat of an advantage.
“When we come to clay, you have people that really don't want to be there at all. They want to get ready for grass and are looking forward for the rest of the year after clay.
“Then you can have some of these matches where it might just be enough to hit three or four heavy shots in a row and your opponent might do something stupid or crazy because he doesn't have the patience to play with you. That's something that is an advantage for clay-court players.
“Then again, if a clay-court player is playing more of a hard-court player, the hard-court player probably feels, 'I'm going to have all these shots to hit down'.
“I can hit winners from anywhere because this guy is just playing top spin all the time. So it goes back and forth.
“But on clay, for those who like to play on clay, it's very comfortable and a nice feeling to have.
“The feeling is not so much like ‘I'm going to win every match’, but it's going to be like ‘I'm going to be very tough to beat on clay because if I am physically ready, I can last for many hours, and whoever wants to beat me on clay will have to play incredible tennis for a minimum of three hours’.”
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