"Going to be there until he dies probably, not going to want to lose" - Casper Ruud on how he felt facing Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic in Slam finals

Casper Ruud has certainly made his mark in the world of tennis with his mastery on the court. However, the likes of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Carlos Alcaraz have denied him the chance to be called a Grand Slam champion.

Notably, Ruud made his maiden Major final appearance in 2022 at the French Open, where he met Nadal, also known as the King of Clay, fighting to overtake Djokovic in the all-time Grand Slam winners' list. And the Spaniard succeeded 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 quite comfortably to prevail at the Majors 22nd time.

Ruud found himself against another record-breaker in the form of Djokovic, who entered Court Philippe-Chatrier for the 2023 final with him to break Nadal's record of 22 Major trophies. The Serb came up with the goods as well, securing a 7-6(1), 6-3, 7-5 win.

"The two finals that I played, I played Rafa going for 22 and I played Novak going for 23," Ruud said reflecting on his experiences during an episode of the Nothing Major podcast (35:54). "So I was like, ‘Could it get tougher… can you get anyone like more motivated in the history of winning a match?'

"He's going to be out there until he dies probably," the 25-year-old added. "Not going to want to lose, especially Novak going for 23, you know he’s just going to lock in and you can be 5-1, 40-0 in the first set and he’s probably gonna win it somehow."

Ruud recalled feeling he stood an outside chance to beat the Spaniard in the 2022 final as the latter nursed a foot injury at the French Open.

"But the thing is in the finals, everyone knew he was injured in his foot," he said. "He was taking local anesthesia, every match, every training, for like 18 days, the days leading up to it. So you think like ‘Maybe today’s the day when he’s so much pain he can’t even walk!’"

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"Got broken first game, that was it" - Casper Ruud on starting terribly against Rafael Nadal in 2022 final

Casper Ruud in action at the 2022 French Open. (Getty)

Playing a Grand Slam final for the first time, Casper Ruud faltered against the injured Rafael Nadal early on, getting broken in his first service game. Ruud recovered quickly by breaking back in the following game but the 14-time champion struck again in the game right after.

Continuing in the same episode of the Nothing Major podcast, Ruud said (at 37:04):

"If there’s ever anyone who’s going to beat him [Nadal] in a final is probably going to be the day he can’t walk. Let’s be real, if he can walk, he can beat anyone. If he wakes up and something happens in his foot, broke his bone or whatever, maybe there’s a slight chance.

"So I was actually quite hopeful. I walked in with confidence, I wasn’t crazy nervous, definitely a little bit, but I didn’t feel like I had pressure, but just the match went on and, you know, got broken first game, that was it."

The Norwegian resisted well in the second set, breaking Nadal in the fourth game, only to never hold the serve again in the match and conceding a bagel in the concluding set.