I had a practice set with Sinner and he was leading 4-0 after 15 minutes," Ruud honest about his last training with the world No. 1
After losing finals in 2022 and 2023 and a semifinal in 2024, Casper Ruud will arrive with ambition at Roland Garros.
Titled in Madrid, the Norwegian will rely on this performance to try to compete with Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who are considered the big favorites in Paris. In a press conference, he also mentioned his training with the world No. 1, against whom he lost 6-0, 6-1 in the quarterfinals in Rome:
"I hadn't played a training set with someone at Sinner's level for a few days. It was nice to win a few more points. But yesterday, we did a practice set and he was leading 4-0 after 15 minutes of play. I thought something was wrong. (laughs) After that, I won a few games.
I think no one sees him as a clay court player because he has had a lot of success on other surfaces. His shots aren't as heavy, but that doesn't mean you can't do well on clay.
When I played him (in Rome), I felt that if I tried to open up the court, he was on the ball and sending it back. When I played higher and heavier balls, he took them at the top of the bounce and didn't miss much.
French Open 
Wouldn't it be nice for competition if we could have, say, a Big 4 or 5?