Facing Rafael Nadal in Paris would be amazing for Casper Ruud - Coach

• Tennis News
• Rafael Nadal

Casper Ruud went through the Paris Masters qualies and he will now face Adrian Mannarino on Monday in the main draw first round. The Norwegian player's coach Pedro Clar, who works at the Rafa Nadal Academy, as quoted by ATP, said: "We are very happy because he was able to go through qualies which is always something very difficult in a Masters 1000.

All the matches are very hard. In the first round the match became complicated and in the end he ended up playing very well (against Mikael Ymer). Today we had an opponent that looking at the rankings did not have to be that tough, but he showed that he can play so well.

Casper is at a very good level. The truth is that both his father and in the Academy we are very happy for him because since the year started Casper evolved a lot, both mentally and game-wise. So in the beginning of the year there were more doubts, he improved many aspects of his game.

He developed until getting to the level he has now." On possibly facing Nadal in the second round, Clar concluded: "We saw it, we saw it! But before, there is a match against Mannarino that is very complicated. The Frenchman will be tough on those courts, I think he is a very experienced player and we will have a very difficult match.

Hopefully it goes well, then playing against Rafa would be very special", he said. Ruud will also play the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, Italy, next month.