Casper Ruud: "Novak Djokovic has taken defensive tennis on a new level"
Casper Ruud believes that Novak Djokovic is a difficult player to face owing to how well he defends on the court.
Ruud is currently in action at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships, where he began his campaign with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 win against Laurent Lokoli on Monday, July 3. He will next face wildcard Liam Broady in the second round.
In the press conference after the match, Ruud was asked about Djokovic and why it is difficult for opponents to defeat him. The Norwegian, in reply, explained that the Serbian's defensive tennis and the way he moves on the court make him almost invincible.
"It's not just one thing though, but I think he just has taken like defensive tennis on a new level. The way he moves and the way he's able to counterpunch and counterattack from deep, out to the side of the court, and it's just really tough to kind of hit winners against him, because he moves well and he gets to certain shots and balls that you don't think that he will get to," he said.
"Even from those positions he's able to hit kind of good counterattacking shots with good depth," he added. "And then he reads the game really well on top of that. So you kind of feel like every time you have a short ball against him, it's kind of tricky to know which side to go to, because he guesses right many times. Even if he doesn't guess right, sometimes he's able to get there."
Ruud further clarified that by defensive tennis he was speaking about how well Djokovic defends on the court
"I think he's just taken defensive -- I'm not going to say defensive tennis, but how well he defends to a new level kind of," he explained.
Novak Djokovic goes through to Wimbledon 2023 2R, gets labeled "the perfect player" by Stan Wawrinka
Novak Djokovic began his Wimbledon campaign this year as a four-time defending champion. He got his title defense underway on Monday with a 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(4) win against Pedro Cachin.
If Djokovic clinches a fifth consecutive title at SW19, he will equal Roger Federer's tally at the grass Major. Jordan Thompson, who beat Brandon Nakashima 2-6, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-3, is set to lock horns with the Serian in the second round.
Meanwhile, Stan Wawrinka, who defeated Emil Ruusuvuori 7-5, 7-5, 6-4 in his opening match in London, was all praise for Djokovic in his press conference. When asked for his opinion on the perfect tennis player, the Swiss was quick to state that the current version of Djokovic was "the best player".
"Right now you just take Djokovic and that's enough. You have the best player right now," he opined.