Casper Ruud hopes to make a big haul in 2023 following his “over-achieving” season this year
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Casper Ruud - FirstSportz
Norwegian Casper Ruud is one of the next-gen players who has managed to cement his place among the elites. The 23-year-old is yet to win a Grand Slam title but has managed to win nine ATP singles titles. He slowly climbed up the ladder to reach his career-best rankings of reaching the Top 2 after the US Open. With the successful end of 2022, he introspects his performances and expresses his happiness for having a great year.
The World No 3 reached seven finals in the year, out of which two were at the Grand Slam tournaments but lost in all four of them. He has won three titles in the year- the Argentina Open, the Geneva Open, and the Swiss Open. He was the finalist in the 2022 ATP Finals where he lost to 21-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic. Casper Ruud had managed to win two out of the three Green group matches.
The 2022 French Open finalist had some breakthrough performances in the year but still claims of having room for improvement. He seemed pleased with his overall performance and stated that he hopes to learn from his experiences while staying focused and motivated for the next season. He confessed that he has overachieved in the year but is very happy about it.
Casper Ruud said in an interview that “Overall if you gave me the offer to end the year at No. 3, and play the finals that I’ve played, on the 1st of January this year, I would probably sign the contract right away. No doubt about it. It gives me motivation and a hunger to maybe next time if I ever get to another final like this…I hope I can learn from what I have done this year and have not been able to do and see how it goes. I just feel like I still have room for improvement, even though I’m very happy with my game and how things have turned out this year. I’ve overachieved compared to my own mind, so I’m very happy about that.“
Casper Ruud admits that he needs to learn the skills to win titles from the Big 2
After wrapping up the spectacular season, he is on the Latin American tour with his childhood idol Rafael Nadal kickstarting the exhibition matches from Buenos Aires. They both will travel around six cities before ending the Tour in Mexico City on the 1st of December.
Casper Ruud has always idolized the Mallorcan from a young age and he himself is an alumnus of the Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca. He had expressed his happiness over getting the chance to do the Tour with his idol and a legend of the game. Being a die-hard fan, he had wished to change the result of the 2012 Australian Open that had left him in tears for days, and considered it as one of the bad days in the history of tennis.
He had an eventful year and proved to be an all-court player but needs to learn the art of converting crucial points into big wins. Casper Ruud admitted that he has to learn many skills before he can challenge Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. Ruud finished the season with a 51-22 win-loss record but could have registered more wins if his ankle injury did not have forced him out of the Australian Open.
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Prateek Pradhan
(601 Articles Published)