"I wish I could have seen my name on the champions wall except for Carlos Alcaraz's" - Casper Ruud on feeling the 'sting' of US Open 2022 final loss

Defeat in the 2022 final still rankles Casper Ruud after the Norwegian opened his US Open campaign with a hard-fought win over Emilio Nava on Monday (August 28).

The 2022 finalist, who lost to Carlos Alcaraz, faced a rather tricky outing against American qualifier Nava, who was undaunted by the occasion or the pedigree of his opponent.

After taking a hard-fought opener in a tiebreak, Ruud dropped the second set as his 21-year-old opponent came storming back into the contest. The Norwegian, though, took the next set and recovered from squandering a 4-2 lead in the fourth to win in a fourth-set tiebreak.

At his post-match press conference, Ruud - who survived 72 winners from Nava - said that his 2022 final loss still hurts. The three-time Grand Slam finalist yearns to see his name on the champions list.

"Walking into the locker room, I wish I could have seen my name on the champions wall except for his, obviously. Since it was the final, at least, feel like I was closest to win out of the three finals that I reach," Ruud said.

"It stings a little more, but you can also use it as motivation to one day lift the trophy. That's high words of course and high goals. That's still my dream, still my biggest goal in my career to win a Grand Slam," he added.

Ruud concluded:

"I think I proved to myself yesterday that I can do better than I expect of myself sometimes. Every year I come back here at the US Open I will know that I reached a final, I was close at some point or before, and that will always be motivating in a way."

The Norwegian next takes on Zhizhen Zhang on Wednesday for a place in the third round.

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"He impressed me and will be the player to beat for a long time" - Casper Ruud hails Carlos Alcaraz

Casper Ruud

Casper Ruud has hailed defending champion Carlos Alcaraz as the man to beat in New York once again. The Spaniard has won six titles this year and a tour-leading 53 match wins.

The World No. 1 is in the midst of another impressive season, winning his first Wimbledon title and losing a close Cincinnati final to Novak Djokovic. Alcaraz has had a decent North American hardcourt swing, also reaching the Canadian Open quarterfinal.

Casper Ruud said that the Spaniard's rise in the last two seasons has been truly impressive. The 2023 Roland Garros finalist added that Alcaraz is going to dominate the men's game for a "long time."

"Yeah, he impressed me, impressed everyone, and he will be probably "the" player to beat for a long time," Casper Ruud said.

The Spaniard opens his title defense against Dominik Koepfer on Tuesday.