Getting close spurs Casper Ruud on as he chases top prizes in 2023

Casper Ruud admits that he finds himself replaying the US Open final in his mind.

Ruud says that coming close to winning a Grand Slam and in one swoop also becoming World No 1 is something he wouldn’t have thought possible before.

Now having come within one match of achieving his lifelong goals, Ruud feels spurred on to finish the job.

“US Open was the closest one and that’s what I felt,” he told Eurosport.

“I mean, I don’t think about it all the time, but there are periods of times where I get flashbacks like if I had just made that passing shot or whatever to get it to 2-1, because there was a couple of set points. But Carlos played brave, he played great in those two points. I mean, maybe I got a little bit passive in one of the points, but in the end you have to give credit to Carlos because he played very fearless and brave.

“He came to the net twice, and it paid off. Of course, I can say I wish I had ready to serve in the T and rip the four and win the return.

“You can always say that, but, you know, do it yourself if it’s that easy. You know what I mean?

“Like, people are asking, Why didn’t you do that? Or this? And I say, well, it’s not that simple.

“But I mean, that was the most enjoyable final because I was the closest. But at the same time I’m getting sometimes these flashbacks like ‘oh, I wish I had one, because it would be a completely different story’. But it also gives me a lot of motivation for next year, knowing that I’ve been close to actually get it, if that’s ever going to be that I reach number one in the rankings, who knows?”

Ruud says that he believes he can win a Grand Slam but understands that no matter what happens he has to continue putting in the work.

He added: “The odds are not very positive that the player is going to make the world number one, and the odds are not very great of a player winning a Grand Slam in his career.

“But I was close this year, and it gives me a lot of motivation to work even harder and hopefully being another fun let’s see what happens then.

“So you have more experience than me must on this, but I hope that it happens sooner than later.

“But I also know that there is a chance that I will never be in the final again. So let’s see. I mean, I’m going to continue to work hard and see how it goes.”