Rafael Nadal aims to be French Open’s oldest champion

• Rafael Nadal will compete in his 14th Roland Garros final on Sunday.
• Casper Ruud is the first Norwegian to reach a Grand Slam final.
• Ruud was only six years old when Nadal won the tournament in 2002

Rafael Nadal will become the oldest man to win the French Open if he defeats Casper Ruud, whose clay-court prowess he helped cultivate.

Nadal will compete in his 14th Roland Garros final on Sunday, and his 30th Grand Slam final overall.

Victory will result in a record-breaking 22nd major championship and 14th French Open, 17 years after his first title win in Paris.

However, the 36-year-old Nadal is as startled as anyone to have reached this point.

Read more: Nadal through to last after Alexander Zverev injury

A longstanding injury to his left foot that has troubled him throughout his career flared up in Rome last month, casting severe doubt on his ability to reach the French capital.

“Without a doubt, I’d prefer to lose the final and have a new foot,” admitted Nadal who has not hidden the brutal reality that every match he plays at Roland Garros may be his last.

Despite his worries, Nadal has fought valiantly to reach the championship match on Sunday.

It took him five sets and more than four hours to defeat Felix Auger-Aliassime and Novak Djokovic in the round of 16 and quarterfinals, respectively.

Alexander Zverev then pushed him for three hours in the semi-finals until a horrific ankle injury forced the world’s third-ranked German to retire on crutches.

Read more: Rafael Nadal looks to reach his 14th French Open final

Despite the German’s audacious all-or-nothing challenge, Nadal maintained a commanding presence on the court, at one time prevailing in a 44-shot lung-busting rally.

His current record at the French Open is 111 wins and three losses. Djokovic contributed to two of these defeats.

In 2005, Nadal was only 19 years old when he won his maiden French Open.

‘The greatest’

If he wins on Sunday, he will become the tournament’s oldest winner, surpassing Andres Gimeno, who won the title 50 years ago at the age of 34.

Ruud, ranked eighth in the world at age 23, is the tour’s best clay-court player.

In addition to winning seven of his eight career titles on clay, he has won 66 matches on the surface since 2020 and reached nine finals.

Ruud is the first Norwegian to reach the final of a Grand Slam.

In 2009, only Robin Soderling, a fellow Scandinavian, in addition to Novak Djokovic overcame Rafael Nadal in Paris.

Since 2018, Ruud has been practicing at Nadal’s academy in Manacor alongside his father, a former top-40 player, and the Spaniard Pedro Clar.

Nadal and Ruud have never competed against one another professionally, but they are frequent hitting partners in Spain, where the Norwegian acknowledges, “he has beaten me virtually every time in practice.”

“Casper has a very good character to play tennis. He’s very relaxed, humble. He’s always in a positive mood about learning,” said Nadal.

“I think in the academy we were able to help him a little bit during this period of time.”

Ruud was only six years old when Nadal won the French Open for the first time, and he described the Spaniard as his “hero.”

“I could probably tell you all the finals and who he has played and who he has beaten, because I watched them all on TV,” said the Norwegian.

“He’s the greatest clay court player of all time and one of the greatest all-around players.”

Read more: Casper Ruud defeated Marin Cilic and reached the final for the first time

Nadal will win the Australian Open and French Open in the same year for the first time with a victory.

That would also put him halfway to a calendar Grand Slam, which has been accomplished only three times in history, most recently in 1969 by Rod Laver.

“I fought, I have done all the things possible to give myself another chance to play in the final of Roland Garros,” said Nadal.

“All the sacrifices and all the things that I need to go through to try to keep playing, really makes sense when you enjoy moments like I’m enjoying in this tournament.”

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