Casper Ruud ready to 'give it his all' in French Open final against Novak Djokovic

Casper Ruud is ready to face off against history-maker Novak Djokovic at the French Open on Sunday, knowing the opportunity is there to perhaps create a bit of history of his own.

Ruud was very impressive in his 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 demolition job of Alexander Zverev in Friday's semi-finals, but it's an altogether different challenge that awaits him now.

The 24-year-old Norwegian, still chasing his first Grand Slam title, is the only man who stands between Djokovic and a record 23rd, a task that might seem insurmountable if he thinks about it too much.

Last year, Ruud also made it to the final at Roland Garros, but the moment against Rafael Nadal seemingly got too big for him, and he surrendered the title tamely in a straight-sets defeat, something he's eager not to repeat.

Later in the year, he was more effective in the US Open final against Carlos Alcaraz, but victory still eluded him.

"It's going to be tough, for sure," he told reporters after his semi-final victory over Zverev. "He's playing for his 23rd. I'm playing for my first. So I'm going to just try to play without pressure and just try to enjoy the moment.

"I think that was my mentality last year, as well, and it didn't go my way [against Rafael Nadal]. Obviously I would like to try to do better than last year. Let's see if I have learned something from the two previous ones that I played last year.

"It just feels great to be back. I didn't think or necessarily believe in the beginning of the tournament that I was going to be in the final."

With Carlos Alcaraz admitting after his semi-final defeat to Djokovic that nerves and the occasion perhaps got the better of him, Ruud is determined not to make the same mistake.

"I think it's just a matter of not thinking like, 'I need to win this match, there's a really big need for me to win this match,'" he said. "This is a word that I try to sort of avoid. Obviously in the beginning of the tournament, that's sort of what you feel more and what you think about more, like this is important to try to get this win and get going in the tournament.

"But now I'm in the final. It's been a great two weeks no matter what happens on Sunday, and I'm going to of course give it my all, but sometimes you play your best tennis when you don't think too much. It just goes on automatic mode.

"If you always think, like, 'Oh, I'm close to winning,' you can sort of tense up and you can be nervous. Maybe that's what happened with Carlos [on Friday], I'm not sure. But when you're thinking too much and feeling pressure, maybe you're not able to breathe in the proper way and calm your body, it's easy to stress and overthink the situation.

"Just going to try to go out there and know that it's going to be a long match, marathon match, and play point by point, give it my all, and let's see how that goes."

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