Casper Ruud is flying high once again at Roland Garros.
The Norwegian will on Friday bid to reach his third consecutive championship match at the clay-court major when he takes on Alexander Zverev or Alex de Minaur. Ruud has enjoyed an excellent 2024 so far, racking up an ATP Tour-leading 39 match wins and rising to fourth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin. His two titles this year came in Barcelona and Geneva on clay, a surface on which he is one of the toughest players to wear down.
“The goal is not necessarily to play three perfect sets every time and win straight sets, but sometimes you just have to think, ‘Okay, I won't play perfect, but I'm going to be a tough player to beat in best-of-five sets on clay’,” said Ruud after defeating Taylor Fritz in four sets on Monday in Paris. “That's the kind of mentality that has been working for me.
"I know if the opponents want to beat me, they're going to have to play really good tennis for at least three full sets, and I'm going to try to make it tough for them. Physically I'm going to try to be in good shape and make them suffer if I can. With my technical game I'm going to try to play heavy and play the kind of clay-court tennis that I like playing. It's been working well the last two, three years here.”
Ruud’s rock-solid mentality on the court contrasts with his demeanour off it, where he is one of the Tour’s most easy-going personalities. ATPTour.com caught up with the golf-loving Norwegian earlier this clay-court season for a quickfire off-court Q & A.
[ATP APP]
If you could have dinner with any three people, who would they be?
I would definitely choose a U.S. president. Not sure who, but a former or sitting U.S. president. I would choose my favourite actor, who is Daniel Craig. I would love to have him around, and the third one can be my father, so I can at least talk with him about normal things. That would be a cool dinner.
What is something cool you've done off the court because of being a tennis player?
After the US Open in 2022, I was invited to a Vogue fashion show, the day after the final. I probably wouldn't have been there unless I played tennis. That was fun. I've been to a few galas and dinners, but I think that Vogue show stands out as a cool memory.
If you could switch places for a day with one person in the world, who would it be?
Maybe Scottie Scheffler. There are obviously a lot of good options, but he just won the Masters and I love golf. I followed it until 1:30 in the morning. I guess he also [just had] his first child, so exciting times. But I would switch with any of the golf pros, just to kind of feel how good you can actually play golf. That would be nice.
You get to travel a lot as a tennis player, but if you could visit one place for a holiday, where would it be?
I've been quite a few times to the Maldives. I know a lot of people probably think it's boring or cliché, but I love going there actually just to relax and it is the perfect place after the season just to kind of get away from everything. I've been there before, so it's a little bit of a boring answer, but I enjoy my time there a lot.
Do you have a ‘pinch me’ moment from your time on Tour?
Probably when I was selected to play Laver Cup in 2022, with Roger [Federer]’s retirement and having the old ‘Big 4’ in one team. Being on the team myself, having dinner with them and warming up with them, and being around the locker room was kind of like, ‘Whoa, is this real?’ That was maybe the most I've ever felt like this.
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The Norwegian will on Friday bid to reach his third consecutive championship match at the clay-court major when he takes on Alexander Zverev or Alex de Minaur. Ruud has enjoyed an excellent 2024 so far, racking up an ATP Tour-leading 39 match wins and rising to fourth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin. His two titles this year came in Barcelona and Geneva on clay, a surface on which he is one of the toughest players to wear down.
“The goal is not necessarily to play three perfect sets every time and win straight sets, but sometimes you just have to think, ‘Okay, I won't play perfect, but I'm going to be a tough player to beat in best-of-five sets on clay’,” said Ruud after defeating Taylor Fritz in four sets on Monday in Paris. “That's the kind of mentality that has been working for me.
"I know if the opponents want to beat me, they're going to have to play really good tennis for at least three full sets, and I'm going to try to make it tough for them. Physically I'm going to try to be in good shape and make them suffer if I can. With my technical game I'm going to try to play heavy and play the kind of clay-court tennis that I like playing. It's been working well the last two, three years here.”
Ruud’s rock-solid mentality on the court contrasts with his demeanour off it, where he is one of the Tour’s most easy-going personalities. ATPTour.com caught up with the golf-loving Norwegian earlier this clay-court season for a quickfire off-court Q & A.
[ATP APP]
If you could have dinner with any three people, who would they be?
I would definitely choose a U.S. president. Not sure who, but a former or sitting U.S. president. I would choose my favourite actor, who is Daniel Craig. I would love to have him around, and the third one can be my father, so I can at least talk with him about normal things. That would be a cool dinner.
What is something cool you've done off the court because of being a tennis player?
After the US Open in 2022, I was invited to a Vogue fashion show, the day after the final. I probably wouldn't have been there unless I played tennis. That was fun. I've been to a few galas and dinners, but I think that Vogue show stands out as a cool memory.
If you could switch places for a day with one person in the world, who would it be?
Maybe Scottie Scheffler. There are obviously a lot of good options, but he just won the Masters and I love golf. I followed it until 1:30 in the morning. I guess he also [just had] his first child, so exciting times. But I would switch with any of the golf pros, just to kind of feel how good you can actually play golf. That would be nice.
You get to travel a lot as a tennis player, but if you could visit one place for a holiday, where would it be?
I've been quite a few times to the Maldives. I know a lot of people probably think it's boring or cliché, but I love going there actually just to relax and it is the perfect place after the season just to kind of get away from everything. I've been there before, so it's a little bit of a boring answer, but I enjoy my time there a lot.
Do you have a ‘pinch me’ moment from your time on Tour?
Probably when I was selected to play Laver Cup in 2022, with Roger [Federer]’s retirement and having the old ‘Big 4’ in one team. Being on the team myself, having dinner with them and warming up with them, and being around the locker room was kind of like, ‘Whoa, is this real?’ That was maybe the most I've ever felt like this.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]