Casper Ruud says he is not stating that Jannik Sinner is better than Novak Djokovic but suggests that he is more "terrified" of the Italian because at least he can stay in rallies with the Serb.
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On Saturday evening in Turin, the Norwegian tennis star got absolutely annihilated by the home favorite, who claimed a 6-1 6-2 win in the semifinal at the ATP Finals. From the start until the end, it was a one-sided battle and Ruud never stood a chance after losing the opening three games.
When the match finished, Sinner registered nine aces, 22 winners, converted four of seven of his break points and also saved the two break points he faced. The two-time Grand Slam champion now owns a 3-0 head-to-head against the world No. 7 and has never dropped a set in their meetings.
"No, I don't think so, in my opinion, because they play different tennis. I mean, I think on TV it looks probably similar the way they play. But Jannik hits a faster ball than Novak. He doesn't let you breathe. With Novak you can play rallies. Not going to say easier to play Novak because he's the best in the history. At least with Novak you can play more rallies and not be terrified of Novak ripping, like, a bomb down the line or cross-court or these things," Ruud said.
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Ruud: Sinner got me stressed and I overplayed...
In his very first service game, the Norwegian got broken with only one won point. Through the first three games, he had only three points won. And after getting completely dominated right from the gate, the 2023 French Open finalist started to panic a bit and it didn't well at all.
After getting on the board in the fourth game, Ruud lost his serve again in the sixth game as Sinner went 5-1 before serving out for the match in the following game.
At the start of the second set, the former world No. 2 managed to hold to his first two service games and lead 2-1. But that was all from him since he lost the next five games and the match.
"I don't necessarily like to compare players because everyone has their own style. For me, you don't realize how fast Jannik plays unless you watch him play live and you're there in the stadium. On the TV, it's not fair, the speed. I got to practice with him here earlier leading up to the tournament. He also kicked my butt there. In a way I knew what I was facing today. Sometimes you feel like players might play even better in practice because they play with no pressure and such things. But today he played really well from the beginning until the end," Ruud added.
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"I mean, I didn't get a good start so I get stressed and overplay a bit. Even the points I played really well, he was there defending well. I ended up doing a stupid mistake at the end. It was all in all just not my day. I'm not going to say I would have won if it was my day. Yeah, I hope I can play Jannik more in the future 'cause it's a really fun challenge even though today I lost badly."
Ruud explains why his game doesn't work against Sinner
Even before the Italian became this dominant, he clinched two routine wins over the Norwegian - he won their back-to-back Vienna meetings in 2020 and 2021.
In January, the world No. 1 crushed the 25-year-old 6-2 6-3 at the Kooyong exhibition. However, since it was an exho event, it didn't count in their official head-to-head.
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Following their latest clash, Ruud acknowledged that he is the type of player that plays patient tennis and waits for his opportunity. On the other side, Sinner has the power and the quality. So when those two styles, it is the Italian's that has the edge.
"It's more kind of sometimes a bit of a waiting game, more patient tennis. I feel that might punish you against someone like Jannik. I mean, if you look at the stats this year, I won over 50 matches and I lost 20 or something. All in all it's a good way of playing tennis. Against someone like Jannik, it's something missing, definitely felt today and something I will know next time I play him. Hopefully it's not three years until the next time (smiling). I will have a fresher memory of what it's like to play him," the world No. 7 said.
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Judging by Ruud's words, he will at least try to change something next time he faces Sinner.
