World no. 3 Casper Ruud says he is motivated to improve his chances of beating Novak Djokovic following his ATP Finals loss to the Serb in Turin on Sunday.
The Norwegian sensation lost 7-5, 6-3, making it the fourth time he lost out in a big tournament final in 2022 following losses to Carlos Alcaraz in the Miami Masters and US Open as well as Rafael Nadal in the French Open.
Ruud considers the losses as some of his toughest challenges this year but he maintains that he is not heartbroken by the outcome.
“I’ve had many experiences this year in losing these finals. It’s just going to try to motivate me to win them if I ever get to them again,” Ruud said as per Sportskeeda.
“If you look at the opponents I’ve played, it’s been tough. You have to say that Rafa in Roland Garros and Novak here, it’s probably some of the toughest challenges that we have. I don’t feel very bad that I wasn’t able to beat them.
“It gives me motivation and a hunger to maybe next time, like I said, if I ever get to another final like this, I hope I can learn from what I have done this year and not been able to do and see how it goes.”
Ruud acknowledged some of the abilities of Djokovic and Nadal that he hopes to improve on for himself.
“I think those two players, Novak and Rafa, are exceptional, of course. They have this sort of ability in them to step up when they really have to that I don’t have,” he continued.
“That’s something I can try to improve for sure. They always seem to win the close points, the close sets. I have been on the losing side when I played players like them.”
Ruud won ATP titles Buenos Aires, Geneva and Gstaad and finished the year ranked number three behind Alcaraz and Nadal.
