French Open: ‘He’ll have his chance’ – It could be third time lucky for Casper Ruud in a Grand Slam says Alex Corretja

Alex Corretja believes Novak Djokovic is the clear favourite going into the men’s French Open final, but says Casper Ruud is perfectly placed to cause an upset.

Ruud is appearing in his third Grand Slam final after losing to Rafael Nadal at Roland-Garros last year, before being beaten by Carlos Alcaraz in the 2022 US Open final.

He told Eurosport: “It’s unbelievable what Casper did, we knew that he was tough on clay and showed he was also tough on hard courts.

“Now he’s back in the final. He’s been working so hard and plays with a lot of top spin on his forehand. His backhand is high up and he’s serving really well. He’s returning far back, so it’s very difficult to win points against him when he’s on the court.

“He’s got the momentum, physically he’s very strong, mentally he’s very stable these days and looks very focused.

“He had the chance to play against Rafa last year, but had no chance to win. Against Alcaraz at the US Open, he was playing very well, and this is the third time he’s going to be there [Grand Slam final].

“He’ll have his chance for sure, but playing against Novak is not easy, but he should feel that it’s a nice opportunity. If you want to play Novak in a final of a slam, maybe the surface you’re going to pick is Roland-Garros.”

A win for Djokovic would secure his 23rd Grand Slam title to move one clear of Nadal for the most wins by a man, a decision which Corretja believes is all the more remarkable considering the Serbian’s lack of tournament time in recent months.

“It’s insane what he’s doing because he’s recovering from not playing too many tournaments in the year. In the clay season, he didn’t play as many games as we thought he should,” he explained.

“But we pretty much felt that if he came here to Roland-Garros and he has the chance to play tough matches, as he did in the early rounds, I think it was perfect preparation for him to reach the semi-finals.”

“He’s in such good shape, he’s moving better; mentally you can see he had the momentum and also, he was hitting the ball pretty well and smoothly. He was also moving fast on the court, so it’s going to be very difficult to beat him in the final because he’s got experience.

“At the same time, he’s got so much pressure on his back. But it seems like he knows how to deal with that.”

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