French Open 2022 – Who wins when experience takes on youth in the Rafael Nadal-Casper Ruud final?

PARIS — Experience vs. Youth. It is an age-old argument that will be on display in the men’s final at the French Open on Sunday as Rafael Nadal takes on Casper Ruud of Norway for the title.

Nadal will be the big favorite to extend his incredible record-setting tally of victories in Paris, but Ruud will make history as the first Norwegian to play a Grand Slam singles final in the Open era.

This one’s all about 13.

That’s the number of Roland Garros titles Nadal already owns, and having beaten Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev, the momentum is with the Spanish veteran.

But he’s also giving away 13 years to Ruud, who has battled his way to a first Slam final. At 36, can Nadal win yet again or will Ruud grasp his chance of glory?

Why Rafael Nadal will win

🎙️ “A very tough match” 🎙️@RafaelNadal reflects on his semi-final win at #RolandGarros

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 3, 2022

Because he’s Rafael Nadal, and this is Roland Garros. The King of Clay is back in another final on the court he loves the most, and having won all 13 finals he has played in at Roland Garros, he knows exactly what he’ll have to do to win.

The way he raised his game to beat Djokovic in another epic battle in the quarterfinals showed why he’s still the best player in the world on this surface, on Court Philippe Chatrier, where the extra room around the court allows him to come up with such incredible winners.

The pair have never played each other on the ATP Tour, but Nadal knows Ruud well, having had him to his academy in Mallorca a few years ago. The pair played many practice sets together.

When Nadal was playing Jordan Thompson earlier in the tournament, at one stage the Australian shouted out: “best player in the world and still he gets the luck,” as a Nadal net cord landed his side.

And the 36-year-old will benefit from his semifinal with Zverev that lasted only three hours because the German player suffered a nasty ankle injury at the end of the second set. Had the…