Novak Djokovic is still the best player in the world – Casper Ruud

Norwegian player Casper Ruud has tipped Novak Djokovic as still the best player in the world. Djokovic has been at his best and he has consistently delivered on the tour. The Serbian recently won the Tel Aviv and Astana Open as he made a fine return.

The veteran then went on to finish as the Paris Masters runners-up after losing to Holger Rune. Earlier in the season, Djokovic had won Wimbledon to take his Grand slam tally to 21, one short of Rafael Nadal. However, the Serbian was then not allowed to take part in the US Open due to his unvaccinated status.

Djokovic will now enter the Nitto ATP World Finals as one of the favorites and he will look to be at his best.

“I think tennis-wise he’s played great,” Ruud said. “He’s just been very unfortunate with the situation and how things have played out due to points, not being able to enter many countries, which has hurt him a lot on the rankings.

“But to me, he will always be one of the best, if not the best player out there and always the favorite in pretty much every tournament he shows up to.

“I think he has shown that this year; he won Wimbledon, he won these two tournaments a couple of weeks ago, and in Rome. Tennis-wise, I think he has done great only playing, I don’t know, eight, nine tournaments. He’s close to the top five in the world.

Novak Djokovic will play against Stefanos Tsitsipas in his opening game of the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin. Djokovic holds a 9-2 advantage against the Greek and he would want to continue the same.

On the other hand, Casper Ruud reached the Roland Garros final earlier in the season but lost to Rafael Nadal in straight sets. The Norwegian then qualified for the US Open final but could not cross the final hurdle against Carlos Alcaraz.

Ruud defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets to get off to a perfect start in the ongoing ATP Finals.