Casper Ruud narrates the experience of being in close quarters with Rafael Nadal’s family and team
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Casper Ruud, Rafael Nadal with his team
Casper Ruud is having a great time in the off-season. Touring Latin America on Rafael Nadal‘s exhibition tour, the Norwegian youngster is getting more time to be with one of his idols. Ruud, a successful alumnus of the Rafa Nadal Academy is now enjoying the chance to be with the Spaniard.
Ruud and Nadal have met only twice so far in official matches. Their first-ever meeting took place in the finals of the 2022 French Open where Nadal won in straight-sets to win his record-extending 22nd Grand Slam title and 14th French Open title. For Ruud, it was a defeat in his first-ever Grand Slam finals appearance.
The duo then met in what was Nadal’s last official match of the season, the third group stage match at the 2022 ATP Finals. Nadal with two consecutive defeats was out of contention for a semi-final spot while Ruud with two consecutive wins was in the last-4 before finishing as the eventual runner-up.
A part of Nadal’s academy and now on the Tour with him, Ruud has seen quite a lot of aspects of Nadal‘s behavior and the Norwegian praised the same.
“You can learn everything from Rafa, from any type of shot, from his mentality and his professionalism. When I arrived at his Academy, I was surprised by the intensity of each training session, and it helped me increase the intensity I put in each practice.
“Rafa’s team and his family are amazing. They have always been with me, and they do a spectacular job with the youngsters,” said Ruud during a press conference in Quito where he went on to defeat Nadal 6-4, 6-4 registering his first-ever win against the Spaniard.
Two more matches remain on the exhibition tour for Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud
Nadal and Ruud have played in 4 cities so far. Of those, the two have clashed in three cities with the only exception being Chile where Nadal played against Alejandro Tabilo. Prior to the match in Quito, Nadal was unbeaten on the exhibition Tour but the streak was brought to an end by Ruud.
The two will now move to Bogota, Colombia before ending the Tour in Mexico City, Mexico. The two are likely to take a break and recover for the next season which starts on 29th December 2022 in the form of the United Cup, a mixed-gender event where both Nadal and Ruud will be on national duty.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)