Ruud diminishes his own hopes as he calls Djokovic-Alcaraz US Open final a potential 'treat for the fans

Norway’s Casper Ruud believes that a final of the US Open 2023 between the world number one Carlos Alcaraz and the world number two Serbia’s Novak Djokovic will be a ‘treat’ for the tennis fans.

The fourth and final Grand Slam of the year is set to begin in less than five days’ time where players from all over the world will participate to showcase their skills at the highest level.

Ruud, who was the runner-up last year in New York, believes a final between the two best players on the planet will be nothing short of a treat for the fans.

"Carlos and Novak, they kind of play similar tennis in a way," he said while talking to Eurosport. "Just there's one thing that they do opposite. I mean, they have kind of all shots in the book. But Carlos maybe plays at a little higher speed in the way he can accelerate even more. But they move great. They have all shots. It's tough to find their weaknesses.

"They both have a good drop shot. Carlos plays maybe more forehands, Novak defends from the backhand side.

"They're good enough as it is on the net. They've got good hand skills and their returns are great. So obviously it's always going to be a good match-up when they play each other. And you've seen it in the past four times that they've played and they have 2-2 head-to-head.

"It's always been a really, really good match. It's a match-up that is going to be a treat for fans and who knows for how many years. When they play it's going to be interesting and I'm one of the players who are going to try to stop them from playing again here in New York because it means that if they play, it's in the final.

"So everyone else also wants to reach the final, but they're now the guys who mostly fans will keep their eyes on during the tournament. And they're the two biggest favourites for sure."