Casper Ruud believes that relying on autopilot could be the best way to succeed in the final of French Open on Sunday.
Ruud qualified for the final for a second consecutive year by defeating Germany’s Alexander Zverev 6-3 6-4 6-0 and will look to clinch his maiden Grand Slam when he locks horns with 22-time major champion Novak Djokovic.
"It's just a matter of not thinking I 'need' to win this match, there's a really big 'need' for me to win this match. That's a word I try to avoid," Ruud, who has never beaten Djokovic in four meetings, told reporters.
"Obviously in the beginning of the tournament, that's what you feel more and what you think about more, this is important to try to get this win and get going in the tournament.
"But now I'm in the final. It's been a great two weeks no matter what happens on Sunday and I'm going to of course give it my all, but sometimes you play your best tennis when you don't think too much. It just goes into automatic mode.
"I'm just going to try to go out there and know that it's going to be a long match, a marathon match, and play point by point, give it my all. Let's see how that goes."
This will be Ruud's third final in his last five Grand Slam tournaments.
"I think this match and the quarter-final was one of the best matches I played this year, so that's a good confidence boost going into the final," Ruud said. "I know I'm going to have to play similar or better if I want to have any chance.
"I'm probably playing the best tennis of the year so far. It's been a tough one, but this sort of changes a little bit everything and how the year has been going.
"I'm going to see if I can try to use last year's defeat in the final as a motivation... to try to play well on Sunday."