“He doesn’t understand anything,” Iceman Casper Ruud takes to the sincerest form of flattery with a brutal dig at Andrey Rublev

Casper Ruud mocks Andrey Rublev at the UTS London match.

“He doesn’t understand anything,” Iceman Casper Ruud takes to the sincerest form of flattery with a brutal dig at Andrey Rublev

Casper Rudd and Andrey Rublev (Via Open Source)

In the world of tennis, where rivalries exist with on-court battles and exchanges, there is also a side of admiration for one another outside the court. Recently Casper Ruud expressed his different form of admiration through mimicry directed towards his Russian rival Andrey Rublev.

At the UTS London 2023, Casper Ruud was up against the young Russian Rublev in a round-robin match. The Russian who was a quarter down to the Norwegian came up in the next 3 quarters to win the match 12-14,19-8,18-12,18-9. However, during the match, the London crowd had quite a laugh when Ruud was mic’d up at the break time.

YouTube video

He was interviewed during the break where he was asked how he manages the pressure on the tennis court upon being known as the “ice-man”. As a reply, the Norwegian mimicked his opponent and created a laugh out of it. The audience hooted and cheered on the 25-year-old for his sense of humor during the match. Though, the Russians did not notice it Ruud had an answer for that as well. Ruud said during the break:

FS Video
He doesn't realize anything other than hitting the ball hard.
Casper Ruud during the break

He is known to be a very calm player on court and it was seen even in his recent outing against France at the United Cup. 

Casper Ruud’s Norway out of the race in the United Cup after loss to France

Ice-Man Casper Ruud helped his team tie the game against team France who were leading the scoreboard courtesy of Caroline Garcia. However, the 25-year-old came through for his team to level the scoreboard but was no match in the mixed doubles game which ultimately gave France the 2-1 win and a spot in the semi-finals against ruthless Poland. 

After a good performance over the last couple of weeks, Norway had to cut their United Cup dreams short and focus on the next stage in the form of the Olympics.

Casper Ruud
Casper Ruud (Via Canberra Times)

However, Ruud now shifts gears to his singles career with the Australian Open as the next grand stage. After some convincing performances for his country, fans will hope for the Norwegian to come through at the Australian Open and try to win a maiden Slam. The mega event set to start in 10 days is sure to bring with it loads of entertainment and action to begin the year with a bang.

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