Novak Djokovic has been told that the pressure is all on him in the French Open final. The Serb is bidding to win a record 23rd men’s singles Grand Slam title and takes on last year’s runner-up Casper Ruud. And Alexander Zverev believes the Norwegian may have his best chance with Djokovic feeling the weight of making history.
Djokovic will play arguably the most important match of his career on Sunday as he faces Ruud in the French Open final. The world No 3 is bidding to surpass Rafael Nadal and win his 23rd Major title – which would set a men’s singles record and tie Serena Williams’ standing in the Open Era.
It will be a third Grand Slam final in the last 12 months for Ruud, who lost to Nadal at last year’s French Open and Alcaraz at the US Open. While the 24-year-old has never won a Major title, his semi-final opponent believes that the pressure will be solely on Djokovic.
After losing their semi-final 6-3 6-4 6-0, Zverev discussed Ruud’s chances in the final. He said: “I think it couldn’t be better, to be honest. 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.”
The German referenced the 2021 US Open final where Djokovic was bidding to complete the Calendar Grand Slam but lost to Daniil Medvedev in straight sets. Zverev continued: “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.” While Zverev still said he wouldn’t bet his money on Ruud to lift the title come Sunday, the fourth seed was also planning to go into the match with no pressure and expectation.
Explaining how he would adapt his mindset to try and win his first Grand Slam title, Ruud said: “I think it’s just a matter of not thinking like, I ‘need’ to win this match, there’s a really big ‘need’ for me to win this match. This is a word that I try to sort of avoid.
“Obviously in the beginning of the tournament, that’s sort of what you feel more and what you think about more, like this is important to try to get this win and get going in the tournament.
“But now I’m in the final. It’s been a great two weeks no matter what happens on Sunday, and I’m going to of course give it my all, but sometimes you play your best tennis when you don’t think too much. It just goes on automatic mode.”
Ruud also suggested that over-thinking could have been what troubled Carlos Alcaraz in his own semi-final against Djokovic on Friday. The Spaniard started cramping at 1-1 in the third set and won just one game for the rest of the match, later admitting that the pressure and occasion got to him.
He added: “If you always think, like, ‘Oh, I’m close to winning; or you can sort of tense up and you can be nervous. Maybe that’s what happened with Carlos today, I’m not sure. But when you’re thinking too much and feeling pressure, maybe you’re not able to breathe in the proper way and calm your body, it’s easy to stress and overthink the situation.
“Just going to try to go out there and know that it’s going to be a long match, marathon match, and play point by point, give it my all, and let’s see how that goes.” Ruud has a 0-4 record against Djokovic and knows he will have to change things up to defeat the 22-time Grand Slam champion.
“It’s going to be tough, for sure. He’s playing for his 23rd. I’m playing for my first. So I’m going to just try to play without pressure and just try to enjoy the moment,” he added.
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