14th French Open title for clay-court king Nadal?

The biggest clay court in the world will host the final at this year’s French Open 2022 on Sunday. On Court Philippe Chatrier, it will come down to a generation duel. On the one hand, the 36-year-old superstar who is the best clay court player in the world, on the other hand, a 23-year-old Norwegian who has already established himself among the world’s top players but has not yet been able to convince on the big stage. Now he faces the biggest match of his young career – on Sunday afternoon Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud face each other

For many young tennis players, the “Bull of Manacor” is the great role model. His successes and his great fighter’s heart are absolutely impressive. But Ruud doesn’t just refer to Nadal as his idol, he joined the Rafael Nadal Academy back in 2018 and honed his skills on tour at the academy run by Toni Nadal.

This gives the final in Paris a bit of a “master meets apprentice” feel. The distribution of roles is correspondingly clear, as betting odds of only 1.15 are offered for a win by Nadal against Ruud. For Nadal it would be the 14th Grand Slam title in Paris, for Ruud the GS final already represents a premiere.

Rafael Nadal – Statistics & current form

At the beginning of the year, Nadal went ahead in the internal three-way battle with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer and became the first male player to win his 21st Grand Slam title. At the beginning of June, he could underline his supremacy and follow up title number 21 with 22. On clay, Rafael Nadal is always one of the favourites, but this year many experts had grave doubts as to whether he would be able to live up to this role.

Title number 14 for Nadal at Roland Garros?

The doubts were quite justified, as the Spaniard has been struggling with physical problems for years. Only recently he let it be known that he himself was surprised that he can still call up such performances at well over 30. His willpower and fighting spirit are unique on the tour. Despite many setbacks, he never let himself be thrown off track.

The road to his 14th final at Roland Garros was by no means easy. After three clear opening victories, things went from strength to strength. Felix Auger-Aliassime is now coached by his uncle Toni Nadal and had him on the brink of defeat. An epic fight against Novak Djokovic was decided in his favour after well over four hours.

This duration would have been easily surpassed on Friday, because in the final round more than three hours had already been played when Zverev injured himself badly at 6:7 and 6:6 and immediately screamed in pain. It was no longer possible to continue playing and so Nadal, on his 36th birthday, progressed by retiring.

Up until that point, the two players had been engaged in a hot battle, with the match going back and forth all the time. For men’s tennis, there were unusually many breaks (ten in two sets), as both players were particularly convincing as returners. However, there was no sign of physical problems in Nadal’s case and in his current condition, victory can only come through him. For a lucrative winning opportunity, however, a tip on a handicap must be considered for Nadal against Ruud.

Casper Ruud – Statistics & current form

Not only the first semi-final between Nadal and Zverev made headlines, but also the ensuing duel between Casper Ruud and Marin Cilic. In the third set, a climate activist tied herself to the net, causing a lengthy stoppage in play that even saw the two players disappear into the catacombs.

Bodily advantages with Ruud

The 23-year-old Norwegian Casper Ruud, whose father was already a tennis pro, entered the big stage last season and even managed to qualify for the ATP Finals. This was due to the fact that Ruud was extremely consistent in the “smaller tournaments”. At the Grand Slam tournaments, on the other hand, the Scandinavian was a marginal player for a long time. Before the French Open 2022, the third round was the maximum of emotions at a Grand Slam tournament.

In Paris, he not only survived the third round, but also played himself into a frenzy and underlined his strength on the red clay. As a player of Nadal’s academy, the strength on clay is not really surprising. He won seven of his eight ATP titles on the clay courts of this world.

After the Scandinavian duel with Holger Rune, it came to the aforementioned duel with Marin Cilic in the semi-finals. The tall Croatian only knows the motto “hard and even harder” when it comes to his strokes. And especially as the match progressed, he tried to win points even faster. His mega-fight against Andrey Rublev left its mark and with every minute played Ruud became even more superior.

After losing the first set, Ruud took control of the match and benefited from the high number of easy Cilic errors. After 2:55 hours, he converted his first match point and was even on court for less time than Nadal for not even two sets played. Cilic could by no means match the level of the matches against Medvedev and Rublev and thus Ruud had an easy game.

The final against his great idol will be a completely different task. Although Ruud is an absolute clay court specialist, he lacks the belief that he is already capable of upsetting the big favourite. Moreover, the mental tension before such a big match will be a challenge. All in all, a lot points to the forecast of a clear favourite victory in Nadal vs. Ruud.

Rafael Nadal – Casper Ruud Direct comparison / H2H-balance

Head to Head: 0:0

In the final of the 2022 French Open, the now 36-year-old veteran Rafael Nadal and the 23-year-old Norwegian Casper Ruud will face each other for the first time

Rafael Nadal – Casper Ruud Tip

In recent days, Nadal has made some cryptic remarks regarding his future career plans. The physical problems are undeniable and the end of his career is getting closer. It is quite possible that Sunday’s final at the Bois de Boulogne will be his last appearance in Paris. Against his academy protégé, he is considered a heavy favourite and indeed all the arguments in the final between Nadal and Ruud speak in favour of betting on the Mallorcan.

The matches in which Nadal was considered an underdog on clay courts could be counted on one hand in his career. Moreover, experience speaks a clear language in favour of the 36-year-old veteran. And despite Ruud’s successes, it should not be forgotten that he did not have to eliminate a single top star on his way to the final. Nevertheless, he needed at least four sets in five of the six matches.

Nadal is a completely different player than his previous rivals and in this respect Ruud will probably only play the role of an extra in his first GS final of his career. The prediction for Nadal against Ruud is an outright 3-0 set win with a six unit stake. Nadal will leave no stone unturned and add to his great collection of titles