Casper Ruud admitted he is feeling ‘surprisingly well’ after a physical opening week at Roland Garros.
The two-time finalist battled his way into the last 16 after coming back from two sets down to defeat Tommy Paul in a five set epic.
It has been a tricky opening week for Ruud who looked on the verge of retirement in his opening round match.
However, Ruud is battled and competed well as he is now into the last 16 in Paris and will be aiming that this is the time where he gets his first Grand Slam title.
Speaking after his epic four and a half hour win over Paul Ruud admitted he is feeling ‘surprisingly well’ despite his exhausting win, “Yeah, I’m feeling surprisingly well,” Ruud acknowledged in his press conference.
“Of course, towards the end you start feeling it. Obviously the weather cooled down towards the last couple of sets and didn’t seem to bother, but it was another hot day. You just try to get as much fluid and stuff in your body as possible. I think one more hot day tomorrow. I doubt I’ll see the courts tomorrow.
“So just try to use those next, let’s say, 36 or 40 hours of recovering and be ready as I can. It’s the beauty of slams, and the days off, we try to use them as much as we can. Typically you come here and practice maybe a little bit, but I think I’ll save all the energy I have for Sunday and take it from there. Yeah, I have no pains at least, so that’s the most important, and see if I can recover.”
Having been close to Roland Garros glory before, Ruud will be hoping this year is his year for a taste of Grand Slam glory.
Now is Ruud’s best chance at Grand Slam success with Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic both out of the tournament.
Speaking ahead of the second week Ruud admitted it is ‘refreshing’ to have an open tournament as he hopes to capitalize on the opportunity in front of him, “Yeah, it’s such an open tournament, which is kind of refreshing, I guess, for everyone, and to see that there will be a new slam champion in about a week or so,” Ruud explained.
“I think every player is aware of it. Obviously Novak and Jannik was one of the two highest favorites, and Jannik definitely the favorite. Yeah, it will be interesting to see where we are in a week’s time. I’m going to try to use the experiences that I’ve had of reaching far in slams to my advantage and see where that takes me, but you focus one match at a time.”
That next match for Ruud will be against Joao Fonseca, Novak Djokovic’s conqueror, and the Norwegian admitted it will be a tough test of his title credentials, “I have an incredible task ahead of me with a young special talent like Joao,” Ruud said.
“He has already beaten top players in his career, so he knows what it takes. Today was probably the biggest win of his career, so we are kind of in the same position. We came back from 0-2. It was long matches. So I will see if I can give him a good match and fight. You know, he’s a very nice kid, so I’m hoping for a good match.”
Sunday’s contest will be the first meeting between the two players.
