"Losers find excuses, winners find a way" - Serena Williams' ex-coach recalls inspiring Casper Ruud as Norwegian reaches French Open final

Rick Macci, former coach of Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Andy Roddick, and others, posted a video of Casper Ruud crediting him for the mindset he instilled in his father, Christian Ruud, a long time ago.

Former player Christian attended the Rick Macci Academy, where the famous coach told him something that he then passed on to his son.

"It's quite a simple quote my dad taught me when I was very young. My dad used to go to an academy called Rick Macci, and he would always tell my father, because he played before, that losers find excuses, and winners find a way," Ruud can be heard saying during an older on-court interview that Macci posted on Twitter.

Ruud went on to explain that the 'no-excuses attitude' is something that he always strives to follow.

"So this is a quote my dad has been telling me for many years already and it comes from Rick Macci. So, if Rick is watching this - and I've never met him - he should have some credits for the win I had today."

"It's like this. You always try to find a way. If your game is not working as you want, you have to try to find some way to do it," the Norwegian added.

Prior to this year's French Open, Casper Ruud reached two other Grand Slam finals last year. He lost to Rafael Nadal in the 2022 French Open final and to Carlos Alcaraz in the 2022 US Open final.

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Casper Ruud and Novak Djokovic to meet in French Open 2023 final

Novak Djokovic and Casper Ruud at the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals

The 2023 French Open final stage is set as Novak Djokovic will face Casper Ruud in the final of the tournament on Sunday, June 11.

Djokovic has lost just two sets on his way to the summit clash. In the first four rounds, he won in straight sets, dispatching Aleksandar Kovacevic, Marton Fucsovics, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, and Juan Pablo Varillas.

The Serb proceeded to win in four sets against Karen Khachanov in the quarterfinals, and Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals.

Meanwhile, Ruud lost three sets on his way to back-to-back finals in Paris. He defeated Elias Ymer in the first round in straight sets and then beat Giulio Zappieri in the second round, and Zhizhen Zhang in the third round, both in four sets.

In the fourth round, he downed Nicolas Jarry in straight sets. In the quarterfinals, he defeated Holger Rune in four sets, and against Alexander Zverev in the semifinals, Ruud once again registered a straight-sets victory.

This will be Djokovic and Ruud's fifth head-to-head matchup, with the Serbian winning all of their prior duels without dropping a single set.