Rafael Nadal has assessed his opponents as a potential threat at the French Open this season and one of them is 22-year-old Casper Ruud.
The player, who has had an impressive 2021 clay court season after winning titles in Barcelona and Rome, is once again the favorite to add another French Open title to his trophy cabinet.
However, the Spanish tennis star believes that the competition towards the French Open this season will be hot enough and winning it for the 14th time will not be as easy as turning a palm.
“I think there are a lot of players who are playing amazingly,” said Rafael Nadal before pointing to Norwegian national Ruud, who he says has had a wonderful clay-court season in the 2021 season.
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“Dominic Thiem, he’s always been the top candidate, besides that there are Stefanos Tsitsipas (champion of the Monte Carlo Open 2021), Alexander Zverev (champion of the Madrid Open 2021), Andrey Rublev, and maybe Denis Shapovalov.”
“I really believe that there are a lot of players who are doing well. There are many good players who are in great shape. And of course, there are players that we know are absolutely amazing, like Novak and Roger. So, we’ll see what happens.”
Before heading to the French Open, the player who has bagged 20 Grand Slam titles beat Djokovic to claim the Italian Open in Rome for the tenth time in his career and he admits that he is very happy with his game to Roland Garros, Paris this season.
“I feel great,” continued Nadal. “I’ve played consistently, won two tournaments, gone to two quarter-finals, and I played better towards the end of the clay-court season than when I started. Winning at Roma has been a positive thing for me.”
Despite his high self-esteem, the 34-year-old admits that form isn’t everything and that he cannot be complacent.
“It’s always the same, you have to focus, you have to arrive at Roland Garros to get used to the conditions, to train properly before the tournament starts, then try to stay competitive from the start,” said Nadal.
“And just keep going day by day, trying to play better, and better. Then try to give opportunities to myself.”
