Ruud’s path to the elite: “Having believed is what I am most proud of”
Exclusive interview with the Norwegian
May 03, 2025
ATP Tour/Getty Imagesby this ATEDIDE ATP
Casper Ruud will look for a milestone this Sunday at the Mutua Madrid Open, where he will face Jack Draper in the final in the Magic Box. Ruud, former number 2 of the PIF ATP Rankings, competes for its first ATP Masters 1000 crown and for being the first Scandinavian to win one.
Atptour.com recently interviewed Ruud to talk about his present, his favorite rivalry, his greatest success and more. And he also explains the difficulties of the road in his origins in our sport.
What is your favorite tennis rivalry?
Rafa-Novak or Rafa-Rager, no doubt. One of the three used to face himself in the final of the most important tournament, so I suppose that is the most common answer.
Who is your biggest rival?
It is tempting to say Alcaraz, because I have lost against him in some of my most important finals. Then you see it as rival and we have not played many times, but five. In my first Masters 1000 final I played against him and lost in Miami, and in the US Open final, when we both played for our first Grand Slam, I lost against him. So it’s tempting to go with him. He is young and I hope to play against him many more times.
What is the greatest difficulty or adversity you have had to overcome?
I think that simply coming from a small country for tennis. When I grew up watching all these legends on television, I lived the time in which Roger became the greatest to break the Grand Slam record of Sampras, then Rafa beat him and then Novak arrived and overcome him again.
So it was difficult to imagine as a Norwegian boy capable of getting there and playing the most important tournaments, the most important matches, which for me are the Grand Slam finals. Of course I have never won one, but being there was a great experience … I pinched my arm the times that I played finals of great tournaments.
I was seven, eight or nine years old seeing Rafa against Roger, Oa Novak against Rafa, or anyone, playing a Grand Slam final, and now I was there. So I think it’s a long challenge, because it’s all my career. But I think that is what I am most proud of: having believed, even from a young age, that one day I could achieve it.
What has been your greatest success?
When analyzing my current career, most of my success has been on whipped land. That is why I think the most fun and satisfactory thing I have felt about success is to have a good performance in hard track tournaments, where people may take me out. Even reaching the final of the Nitto ATP Finals one year on a hard track quickly was something that I considered a great success, because before that week, nobody probably had that it would reach that final, or that of the US Open or that of Miami, for example. So I think these results have been a success that I have enjoyed and appreciated a lot throughout my career.
What is your favorite ATP tournament?
I think Indian Wells is probably the tournament where players’ comfort is at another level. That is great when you travel around the world and you know that you are going through time areas, and it is nice to rest well and feel careful. Indian Wells makes it wonderful.
The facilities are incredible, so I think that in the ATP Tour, Indian Wells is the best tournament and my favorite.
What is the most great experience outside the track you have had as a professional tennis player?
I have been able to play some laver cups, which was a great experience, because you are in a team with other European players.
Sometimes, although unfortunately I have not had much success there, I think it is very fun to be in Asia and Shanghai, because fans behave very differently and you feel like a rock star, almost like a superstar. You feel that you have a status for a few days that you don’t feel anywhere else because Asian culture is a bit different. So, when walking through Shanghai for the first time, I felt overwhelmed by support, which was fun in a way.
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