(Provided by Tennis World USA)
Alexander Zverev acknowledged Casper Ruud is in the French Open final for a reason but noted that if he had to bet on the match, he would not put too much of his money on Ruud to beat Novak Djokovic. On Friday, world No 4 Ruud dismantled Zverev 6-3 6-4 6-0 to reach back-to-back French Open final.
In the other semifinal, Djokovic defeated top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz. Ruud has now made his third Grand Slam over the last 12 months – the Norwegian was beaten by Rafael Nadal in the 2022 French Open final and Alcaraz in the 2022 US Open final.
When Djokovic and Ruud meet, the Serb will be aiming to win a record 23rd Grand Slam title and make it past Nadal in the Slam race.
Zverev: Ruud deserves to be here but Djokovic knows how to get it done
“Novak is one of the best players in the world, that’s for sure, but when you’re on the brink of history I think that adds a little bit of pressure.
You remember the US Open final he had with Medvedev after beating me in the semis still? The pressure, you know, we are all human. Novak is human. We all feel it. So I think for him, for Casper, that’s the best scenario, to be honest.
Look, Casper is in a Grand Slam final for a reason. You know, if you’re in a Grand Slam final you have chances because you’re that good of a player. Is Novak the favorite? Yes, of course. There is no question about it. He knows how it’s done.
He knows how to do it. But Casper is playing great tennis. If I would have to bet money, maybe I wouldn’t bet on Casper too much (smiling). Does he have chances? Yes, he does. He’s playing amazing tennis and I think he deserves to be in the final,” Zverev said, per Sportskeeda. It remains to be seen if Ruud can upset Djokovic for his first Grand Slam title.
