French Open: “Tennis-Haaland” Casper Ruud wants to stop his Rafael Nadal

With 37 medals won, Norway was by far the most successful nation at the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, and Erling Haaland, a Norwegian, has also been stirring up a world sport with goals on the treadmill in football in recent years.

Norwegian tennis players, on the other hand, are hard to find. For a long time, Christian Ruud was the country’s most successful professional, when he reached 39th place in the world rankings in the 1990s. Ironically, it was Ruud’s son Casper in 2020 who trumped his father’s mark and is now the first Norwegian ever to have a chance at a Grand Slam title at the French Open on Sunday.

Like goalgetter Haaland in football, Ruud junior is now climbing to the top of the world in tennis. The two shooting stars do not look alike at all, but they also have some similarities in addition to their common origin. Both made it out of Norway into the elite of their sport in just a few years and both are now number 1 in their respective countries.

Both Ruud and the future ManCity kicker are also known for emotionally celebrating moments of success. Ruud’s quarter-final opponent Holger Rune found the celebrations at “Tennis-Haaland” a little too emotional and accused him of arrogant behavior. Ruud himself denied the arrogant jubilation and is now looking forward to the biggest game of his life.

“It’s no surprise at all that he’s here in the final,” says Rafael Nadal about his opponent in the final. Indeed, the Spaniard faces a player who has won no fewer than six tournaments on clay in the past 13 months (including two in Geneva and one in Gstaad) en route to his 22nd Major triumph.

The duel against Nadal is for Ruud the most important match of his career and at the same time the first encounter with his great role model. “I look up to Rafa, he’s the perfect example of how to behave on and off the court,” said the 23-year-old in an interview after winning the semi-final against Marin Cilic (ATP 23).

“He never gives up and never complains. He was my idol all my life, »Ruud continues and adds with a smile that he hopes Nadal is also happy to play against a student from his academy. The Scandinavian shooting star trained with his father for years on the clay court king’s facility in Mallorca.

How much Ruud a title at Roland Garros would mean can also be seen from his statements in a column at Eurosport a few months ago. There the tennis professional from Oslo said that he would exchange all the tournament victories he had already won for a Grand Slam title.

In the same column, Ruud also commented on the growing enthusiasm for tennis in his home country and said: «I want to make tennis more popular in Norway. I’m not saying we should burn the skis, but maybe some kids can choose a racquet and take their talent to the tennis court. Maybe they can play tennis in the summer and ski in the winter.”

Who knows, maybe Ruud’s French Open title would actually ensure that Norway not only remains a winter sports nation in the future, but also ensures lasting enthusiasm in the country in the game with the yellow felt ball. At least for the 25-year-old himself, it would be the fulfillment of an absolute boy’s dream.