Casper Ruud ne jouera pas une troisième finale consécutive à Roland-Garros. Finaliste perdant lors des deux éditions précédentes face à Rafael Nadal et Novak Djokovic, il rêvait d'une troisième finale de suite et sentait sans doute que la chance pourrait être avec lui. En effet, la tête de série n°7 a profité du forfait de Djokovic en quarts de finale, et espérait avoir eu du temps pour bien se reposer. Mais le sort en a décidé autrement et s'il a très bien commencé la partie face à sa victime de l'an dernier Alexander Zverev, le Norvégien a semblé gêné à partir du deuxième set, au ventre notamment. Comme l'a indiqué son adversaire du jour, si ses coups étaient toujours aussi percutants, ses déplacements sont devenus plus lents. Trop pour pouvoir rivaliser avec l'Allemand qui s'impose finalement (2-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2). Cruel quand on sait que le tournoi n'avait pas été aussi ouvert depuis longtemps.
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00:00Bad luck, Kasper. You didn't seem to be 100% out there today.
00:06Can you just explain a little bit what went wrong?
00:09Yeah, it was a little bit unfortunate.
00:15I started well towards the middle, end of the first set.
00:20I started feeling some discomfort, an ache in my stomach.
00:25So I wasn't able to keep the intensity and the energy level up.
00:34It was something that was bothering me and just kind of
00:38limiting me, or if that's a word, to play the way I want to.
00:47So it was a pity.
00:51It's not something I think is very serious or is going to last for a long time,
00:57but it's something that came up in the first set.
01:01I won the first set, so it was a good feeling,
01:03but it didn't feel very well even in the first set.
01:06And then the last three went quick because I...
01:12Sascha played well, of course, but I wasn't able to play
01:16with the kind of tennis that I like to play, with intensity,
01:19because I was kind of limited with my stomach.
01:23I don't want to make an excuse or excuses,
01:26but it's frustrating and disappointing.
01:36Hi there, Kasper.
01:39We saw Irina Sabalenka was unwell during her match a couple of days ago.
01:44I just wondered, given that you'd had a few days without a match,
01:47whether you were aware of that,
01:49whether you had maybe tried to stay away from any public areas to avoid anything,
01:54and whether you had anything before you came in at all to this match?
01:57Yeah, I saw that the same.
01:59I was watching the match, actually, Sabalenka,
02:01and she also seemed maybe a little bit unwell.
02:03So I'm not sure if there's something going around.
02:05I don't think so, because it's been only her and I, I think.
02:08But maybe just unlucky.
02:10Maybe it was something I picked up in my dinner last night.
02:12Maybe it was from the breakfast this morning or something just before
02:15that I got down in my stomach.
02:18So I don't have the answers now,
02:20but I am just disappointed that it had to be today.
02:30Why couldn't it be yesterday or the day before when I had three days off?
02:33So it was a bit unlucky.
02:36I was really looking forward to the match,
02:38and in a way I started well,
02:39but I wasn't able to keep it up, unfortunately.
02:43So, just, yeah, unfortunate.
02:49Hi, Kasper.
02:51Tough luck today.
02:52Is this the best version of Sascha that you've seen?
02:58Yeah, I think he's playing some of his best level.
03:03You know, he will have to answer for himself.
03:04But I think serving-wise, he was putting on a clinic today.
03:09I maybe wasn't returning great,
03:12but he picked the spots pretty well, with the serve especially,
03:15and from the baseline, he's steady from both sides.
03:20And the backhand, of course, we know it's a beautiful shot.
03:22He can rip it across down the line, and he's a good baseliner.
03:26So, I mean, he has everything that you need to play a good clinic or tennis,
03:31I would say, and I think that he's, the last two, three, four weeks,
03:38I guess he's playing some of his best tennis in a while,
03:40and all his life, I'm not sure, but definitely in a while, yeah.
03:53You've been playing some of, I guess, your most attacking tennis
03:56that you've played in your career, I guess.
03:58Just curious, could you reflect on how your progress over the last few months
04:03and this year, despite the result today?
04:06Yeah, I'm very pleased with how the season has been so far.
04:11In my game, I've tried to make a few adjustments and improvements,
04:17and I think that they've come along pretty well.
04:19Still, there's a long way to go,
04:24where I feel like I'm 100 percent satisfied,
04:27and I think that's a good thing.
04:28I don't feel like I'm complete yet as a player, very far from it,
04:33so I still have a lot of things to work on.
04:37But the season has been great, I would say, to sum it up.
04:41This result here in Paris is, in my eyes, a great result,
04:45and it was unfortunate and a pity today that it ended this way,
04:49but I consider it, let's say, the first half of the year very good,
04:56and I'm looking forward to having some time off.
04:59I think I've played maybe 50 matches already this first five months of the year,
05:06so it's going to be nice with a few weeks off,
05:09and I'm looking forward to getting on the grass.
05:15You mentioned that you'd finally get a bit of time off, having played a lot.
05:20Next week, will you still be watching matches,
05:23or will you just try and cut yourself off from tennis for a little bit?
05:27Maybe not next week, but I think it's fun to watch the grass,
05:31and I will probably watch the final, honestly.
05:34I think it's going to be an open one with Sascha and Carlos.
05:42No offence to Stuttgart or St. Horgenbosch,
05:44but I won't be glued to the TV for those events,
05:49but maybe for Queens and Halle,
05:51and then obviously the rest of the grass weeks.
05:56I will try to look, because I'm obviously going to play grass myself.
05:58I won't play any events leading up to Wimbledon,
06:00but Wimbledon I will play, of course,
06:02and I think it's a very fun surface,
06:07and I've been joking a little bit about certain things before,
06:11but I think it's a very fun surface to play on,
06:13because it brings something completely different,
06:15and it challenges me in a way that I think is good for my game,
06:19in a way, to be challenged.
06:23I'm really looking forward to Wimbledon,
06:25but next week I don't think I will watch much tennis.