THE REAL DEAL
Nadal a tennis Galactico as he eyes 14th Paris title
Rafa Nadal has been dubbed the Real Madrid of tennis before he bids to school his “student” for a 14th French Open title.
The King of Clay has played 13 finals at Roland Garros and won them all, having lost only three of his 114 matches here since his winning debut in 2005.
And Casper Ruud, who trains at Nadal’s Mallorca academy, reckons facing the Spaniard in today’s showpiece is probably “the greatest challenge” going.
Real Madrid fan Nadal was at the Stade de France to see Los Blancos win a 14th European Cup against Liverpool.
The next day he came through a five-setter against Felix AugerAliassime and then KO’d Novak Djokovic in a quarter-final epic.
He’s on the cusp of a 22nd Grand Slam title despite a chronic foot issue, which makes Wimbledon a doubt. His uncle and former coach Toni said: “Everyone wants to dethrone him, that’s normal.
“We have seen it with football this season. Madrid were under pressure against PSG, Manchester City and they won. The people who fight are usually always there at the end to win the trophies.
“And Rafael is a fighter. I always believe when he goes out on court, if he is fit, he is the player to beat.”
Ruud is the first Norwegian to reach a Grand Slam final.
But the No.8 seed said: “I could probably tell you all the finals, who Rafa has played, who he has beaten, because I watched them on TV.
“To play Rafa in a Roland Garros f inal is probably the greatest challenge there is in this sport.
“He has played so many finals but at least he is playing a student from his academy this time. It is going to be a fun one hopefully.”
Although a competitive match hasn’t happened, the pair have played plenty on the practice court.
Ruud, 23, said: “There have been some close sets – 7- 6, 7-5 – but it always goes his favour. It’s because we are playing in the academy and I want to be nice to him.”
The challenger has been to the final four on clay in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome already.
And Nadal said: “Casper is one of the candidates for winning in every clay-court event.”