The level of men’s tennis has risen so much that Rafael Nadal’s former mentor says the Spaniard needs to be at the top of his game in every match, according to Norway’s Casper Ruud.
Ruud, who is currently ranked fourth in the world, has hailed the depth of men’s tennis following his fourth round win at the Italian Open on Tuesday. Rome is the fourth consecutive Masters 1000 event where at least one of the quarter-finalists is a qualifier with Yannick Hanfmann currently enjoying a fairytale run. Others to have achieved this milestone in 2023 were Chris Eubanks in Miami, Jan-Lennard Struff in Monte Carlo and Alsan Karatsev who reached the semi-finals in Madrid. Struff was also runner-up in Madrid after entering the draw as a lucky loser.
“We don’t have like 10 guys who can play, we have 80-100 who can play so well on any given day. I think that’s exciting,” Ruud said during an interview with The Tennis Channel. “These last months you have seen some big surprises in Masters 1000s like Struff. Last year Carreno Busta, Rune and Coric all won titles, and they were not the top seeds. It’s fun, I think it’s great for tennis.’
“You have to be on top of your game in any match you play or you probably lose.”
The two-time Grand Slam finalist says his views about the current state of the Tour are similar to that of Toni Nadal. The uncle and former coach of Rafael Nadal who introduced him to the sport at a young age. Toni, who officially stopped working with his nephew in 2017, is currently working with Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime.
“I think one good example is Toni, Rafa’s uncle. He has been Rafa’s coach for almost all of his career and is one of the head coaches at the (Rafa Nadal) academy,” Ruud commented.
“When I got to the academy he started travelling a bit more with Felix (Auger-Aliassime). He was surprised in a way and told me how the depth of men’s tennis is really big these days.’
“He said early in Rafa’s career he knew he would win 6-2, 6-2, if he did this (play a certain way) because he was too good for the opponent. But (now) even for Rafa on clay he has to be at the top of his game every match otherwise he is gonna have a struggle.”
Ruud has previously demonstrated his worthiness to be ranked among the best in the world following a strong 2022 season when he reached the final of two major tournaments, the ATP Finals and claimed a trio of Tour titles. However, this season has been more challenging for the 24-year-old who has won 15 out of 24 matches played so far heading into the quarter-finals of Rome. Rome is only the second tournament of 2023 where he has managed to win back-to-back matches.
However, Ruud’s belief in his game is not weakening and playing on the clay is usually a surface he thrives on. 12 out of the 16 ATP finals he has played so far in his career have been on the clay. Furthermore, the French Open is his best-performing Grand Slam in terms of match wins (13).
“I think many of the losses that I have had have been against good players. To Struff in Monte Carlo who went to the final in Madrid and showed what kind of potential he has. He just hit me off the court. In Barcelona, I lost to (Francisco) Cerundolo,” he said.
“A lot of these guys have a top level and I felt that I played a lot of them when they played some of their best tennis. It’s a little bit unfortunate but I feel like on clay if I play well and get my game going I can be dangerous to anyone who I play.”
Ruud will next take on Argentina’s Cerundolo in Rome later today.
