Ruud beat Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands 2-1 in sets on Tuesday. The Norwegian lost in the first set, but lifted the game in sets two and three and eventually emerged victorious.

After the match, he was partly satisfied with his own game, and at the same time revealed that he was looking forward to starting at Rolland-Garros on 22 May. The tournament takes place over the next two weeks and is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the tennis world.

– It was a good feeling to win the match. It was a tough first set that didn’t go as planned and was hard to accept. I managed to stay calm and change my playing style a bit, which might stress him out a bit. That might be the solution to victory today, Ruud told NTB.

In his next match on Thursday, Ruud will meet Belgian David Goffin or American Jenson Brooksby. If Norway wins based on that duel, Rafael Nadal could wait in the quarter-finals. The two have trained together a lot since Ruud became a pro.

Nadal meets Canadian Denis Shapovalov on Wednesday.

Same condition

Ruud further said that conditions in Rome were very similar to those in Paris, and that he wanted to gain confidence in the tournament in the French capital.

– Conditions here are relatively the same as in Paris. It bounces pretty well here. “The course here is not at the same level as in Paris, but hopefully I can get two good results here (Rome) and at the French Open this year,” said Ruud.

– There are two big goals, so I expect a big performance to come here in Paris. I’ve been training hard the last few days and weeks to make it happen, so we’ll see if it works.

– Last test

Father and coach Christian Ruud agree in his son’s thoughts on the similarities between Rome and Paris. He was aware that bringing confidence into such a big tournament could be decisive.

– That might be a little bit true. That’s pretty close to the French Open, so if you feel like you’ve had form in the week before, you can hover over it a bit. “Roma is the final test where all the best is involved, and if you do well there you will of course go in with good confidence,” he told NTB after his son’s win on Tuesday.