Casper Ruud issues Novak Djokovic warning as he assesses rivals’ French Open hopes

Ewan West 21 May 2024 2:56 PM

Novak Djokovic and Casper Ruud

Casper Ruud has named Novak Djokovic as “one of the top favourites” to win the 2024 French Open as he assessed the chances of his rivals.

The world No 7 believes Alexander Zverev may be the player “with the most confidence” going into Roland Garros after his Italian Open triumph.

Ruud and Djokovic are both competing at the Geneva Open this week, with Americans Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton also featuring in a strong draw.

The Norwegian is the No 2 seed and will face Sebastian Ofner in the second round, while top seed Djokovic, who accepted a late wildcard, will take on Yannick Hanfmann. Ruud won the ATP 250 tournament in 2021 and 2022.

The 25-year-old was a runner-up at the French Open in each of the last two years, losing to Rafael Nadal in 2022 and Djokovic in 2023.

Ruud defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas to win the biggest title of his career at the Barcelona Open ATP 500 tournament last month, after losing to the Greek in the Monte Carlo Masters final the week before.

Ahead of his appearance in Geneva, Ruud was asked whether this year’s edition of Roland Garros feels like a big opportunity given the uncertainty surrounding some of the favourites.

“Obviously you have players coming into the tournament with confidence, which is important when you’re playing tennis,” said the former world No 2.

“Zverev maybe the one with the most confidence since he won in Rome. I also have had very good results at the beginning of the clay season and hopefully I can find back my best form in Geneva and bring it into Paris.

“Yes it’s a big chance, but you have other players as well who will be a very big threat.

“Alcaraz and Sinner if healthy will be big threats and also Novak, he’s still in my eyes up there as one of the top favourites even if this year hasn’t gone maybe the way he wanted so far. He’s still the one who won the most in the Slams.”

Ruud, a winner of 12 ATP titles and a three-time Major finalist, also reflected on what he has achieved in his career so far.

“There are still many things I want to achieve that I haven’t done yet but at the same time I think it has gone better that what I kind of expected or thought was realistic when I was younger,” he added.

“So I mean, so far I feel like I’ve done better than what I maybe thought in the past but when you are in this position you just want to push more and it’s motivating playing big matches and having good results at the biggest tournaments.

“So yeah there are many things I haven’t achieved that I’m chasing and practising everyday for.”