The past few months on the Tour haven’t gone as well as Casper Ruud had hoped but he believes there is no need to panic.
Ruud, who reached two Grand Slam finals last year, has failed to win back-to-back matches in eight out of his last nine tournaments played since January. With the one exception being the Estoril Open where he won his 10th ATP title. Overall, he has won 11 out of 20 matches contested so far this season but is yet to defeat a top 20 player.
The Norweigan’s lacklustre results are a stark contrast to 2022 where he claimed a trio of titles, won a total of 51 matches and earned almost $7M in prize money. One theory for the dip is related to Ruud’s decision to play a series of exhibition matches during the off-season instead of having a training block. An approach he has since said he is unlikely to do again.
“I knew that this year was going to be a big challenge because the things that I did last year is not maybe going to happen every year you play,” Ruud told reporters at the Italian Open on Tuesday. “To reach two Grand Slam finals, obviously the Nitto ATP Finals at the end of the year, it’s not something that I expect to do every year. Obviously I’m trying my best.
“The thing is, when you’ve done something before, to reach for example a Grand Slam final, you know that it can happen again because you have been able to do it before, so why not again? I think your expectations are a little bit higher coming into tournaments, which can be dangerous.
“If it doesn’t go well, you think, What am I doing wrong? What happened? Last year I was able to do this, why can I not do it this year? It can be a little bit challenging.
“I said the main goal this year is just to try to defend some of the tournaments, some points, try to keep myself in the top 10 at the end of the year, is something that will still be my main goal.”
Over the coming weeks, Ruud has a large number of points to defend as he aims to stay inside the top 10. He is seeded fourth at this week’s Rome Masters where he reached the semi-finals 12 months ago. Then there is the Geneva Open where he is the defending champion followed by the French Open where he was runner-up to Rafael Nadal last year.
After the challenges he has faced in recent weeks, the 24-year-old admits that he is going through a patchy period in his career.
“Things will obviously go up and down in one’s career. You won’t be able to perform at your best every single match you play for the rest of your career,” he said.
“For me, I’ve been sort of expecting like a little down period to come at some point in my career. But it’s not fun when you’re in it. You just want to get out of it and try to find your game, try to find your best level.”
Trying to find a solution to his problems is easier said than done but the European clay has been a surface which has brought the best out of Ruud’s game in the past. He is coached on the Tour by his father Christian Ruud, who is a former player himself. Also helping him on the Tour are Pedro Clar Rosselló and Joachim Bjerke.
“I realised that so many matches during the year, it’s decided by a couple of points. The margins are small. Last year maybe went too much in my favour. This year it’s been going a little bit opposite direction. But I’m still doing the right work, practising hard, motivated. It’s a long year, and I still have many years hopefully in my career to try to find my form again,” he said.
“I’m just going to try to have a good tournament here (in Rome), maybe get a couple of wins hopefully, and see what can happen now in the nearest future.”
Ruud will begin his campaign at the Italian Open against either qualifier Flavio Cobolli or Arthur Rinderknech later this week.