ROLAND GARROS

May 28, 2024

Casper Ruud

Press Conference

C. RUUD/F. Meligeni Alves

6-3, 6-4, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Casper, well done. How happy were you with your performance for your first match at Roland Garros this year?

CASPER RUUD: Thank you. Yeah, I was honestly very happy. I think it was a good start. I think Felipe is a dangerous player, and obviously I didn't know him so well. So not easy to know what's going to come out of his racquet. I think he was firing pretty good serves and forehands.

Overall, I think it was a pretty high-quality match and happy to be through in straight sets. That's just what I was kind of hoping and looking for. Yeah, I'm very happy to be through.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. You had a pretty short time between Geneva and your coming here. How did you manage it?

CASPER RUUD: Well, I think it was fine. I mean, Saturday in Geneva was a bit tough because I played two matches in one day. But after I had a good dinner, nice treatment. I came to Paris on Sunday morning. It's a 40-minute flight. Almost you don't even feel it.

I took the Sunday off, practiced on Monday, and felt very, very good and ready for the match today. Wasn't a big problem at all, such a short travel from Geneva here anyway. It's not something I felt was a big problem.

Q. How do you decide your preparation week for a Grand Slam like this? I know you've played Geneva the last couple of years, you've won it, you had a good run last year, you then reached the final here. How do you decide whether to play or not that week before? Because it's not for everybody.

CASPER RUUD: No, I decide based on the fact that I enter the tournament, and with the purpose of going. But of course, if you do super well in Madrid and Rome and you play, let's say, 10 matches or more within those two weeks or the two tournaments, maybe, depending on how your body feels, it's kind of easier to skip it.

But that wasn't the case for me in Madrid and Rome. I played only four matches there. I lost early in Rome. If I didn't play Geneva I would have had 17 or 18 days since I lost in Rome until starting in Roland Garros, which in my eyes, my feeling, is just a bit too much.

For some players, they don't think it's too much. They don't have a problem with it. But for me I like going into tournament kind of mode and feeling in the zone when you're playing an official match. That's why I like playing. It gives me kind of confidence and match feeling going into a Grand Slam, which is the Grand Slam that I personally feel like I have the most chances to do well in.

Q. How did you find the conditions today? Roof on and it's kind of colder and a wet day.

CASPER RUUD: Yeah, a bit difficult. Heavier ball. Not as many winners, not as fast as on a dry and warm and sunny day. Definitely changes quite a lot.

Obviously clay is a surface, that I think at least, suits being played outdoors a bit better. Indoors is not a favorite of mine, but it's the same for my opponent and same for everyone. You just kind of have to deal with it.

Q. How do you compensate for it? Are you thinking consciously, I have to hit my forehand differently, hit my serve differently?

CASPER RUUD: Not really. Just you have to mentally prepare that you won't maybe hit as many winners, and also that the rallies might be a bit longer, because the ball doesn't travel as far or fast through the air as on a normal sunny day. I think you just have to prepare for a bit longer rallies, and the balls will get a little bigger and heavier. It's not going to be easy to hit clean winners and fast points.

I mean, I think it suited my game quite well today.

Q. Your father didn't manage to win a title, but Felipe's uncle, Fernando, beat him in a final. Were you aware of that before today? Is it something your father reminds you of, coaches he's played or relatives of other players he's played?

CASPER RUUD: Yeah, we were. We talked about it for breakfast, actually. My father, like you said, he lost Bastad final one time in his career, so he was never able to win a ATP tournament, and the guy he lost to in the final was Felipe's uncle.

I think both me and my dad wanted to get some revenge on the Meligeni family. It was worth the wait, I guess. It was many years we had to wait, but we got it today.

Q. Congrats for winning Geneva and through the first round.

CASPER RUUD: Thank you.

Q. Andy Roddick recently admitted he had skin cancer and a few different surgeries. He said something that gets a little bit overlooked, that danger. How do you tackle that?

CASPER RUUD: Yeah. It's definitely something that players should worry about and try to take care of if they can.

It's not easy, as most matches, most tournaments, are played outdoors. In my case, obviously you wear sunscreen but it can be tricky because we sweat a lot, and I feel like the sunscreen can sweat off immediately when you put it on.

It's a tricky situation, and it's something that I also worry about. I mean, after my career is done, I think me, myself, I'm going to try to go and do some checks and take maybe better care of my skin than what I'm able to today, because my job kind of forces me to be in the sun a lot.

I try my best to cover from it with sunscreen. The tournaments are nice. They provide sunscreen most of the time in the locker room or they give you a pack in the beginning of the tournament with a lot of protection.

But it is obviously something that you mention, it can be dangerous and it can lead to, in worse case, obviously cancer. If you are too much in the sun, I think that's probably something that's talked about a lot and something we should worry about.