When Casper Ruud was asked at Wimbledon what he needs to do to play well on grass, he replied, ‘I need to do everything opposite of what I’ve been doing for all my life,’
The Norwegian exited the tournament on Monday following a three-set loss to former semi-finalist Hubert Hurkacz. He is yet to go beyond the second round at SW19 and has only won three main draw matches so far in his career. To put this into perspective, he has won 11 matches at the Australian Open, 14 matches at the US Open and 27 matches at the French Open. He has also played 27 finals on the Tour, but none of those was on grass.
“It’s tough because I feel like, for me to play well on grass, I need to do everything opposite of what I’ve been doing for all my life,” Ruud explains.
“I need to don’t whip it (the ball) with so much top spin. I need to try to flatten it out. The movement is different.
“I don’t feel very comfortable moving on the grass. You tend to play a bit shorter rallies and this and that.
“It’s a question of how much you want to put into the grass season when it is that short. If it were eight weeks rather than four or five weeks, I would probably put more effort into becoming a more comfortable grass court player, but as it’s only one tournament of the year for me.”
It was back in 2021 when Ruud last played a grass court event outside of Wimbledon. Whilst his reasons for doing so are slightly different this year, following the birth of his first child and celebrating his marriage, the idea remains the same.
The European clay is where Ruud has enjoyed numerous successes with 12 of his 14 titles being won on the surface. He is also a two-time French Open finalist. For him, the idea of taking a break following the clay swing is a no brainer and he has no objection to admitting that it does risk his Wimbledon chances.
“The clay season typically gets very intense. It’s a time when I play not the most of my matches in the year, but I tend to play a lot of matches if I do well, and it takes kind of a toll on the body and the mental part,” he said.
“After Paris, it’s nice for me to be able to kind of breathe out a bit and Just don’t think about tennis for at least a week or maybe two.
“It’s a nice halfway point when Roland Garros is over and a time to maybe reflect a bit on what’s happened and again some strength and motivation for the second part (of the season).”
With players playing later into their careers, the 27-year-old has plenty of time to change his approach to the grass swing. However, the honest-speaking Ruud admits this isn’t looking likely.
“I’m not sure what the future brings, but if clay continues to be part of the season where I do well, I don’t see it likely for me to play too much leading up to Wimbledon.” He states.
“I do come here (Wimbledon) a week before to try to prepare and practice, so it’s not like I’m just like tanking or trying at all, but for me it’s the only time of the season that makes sense to do a little bit of time off after Paris.
“I’d rather play the tournaments after Wimbledon, a few more weeks in Europe before we head over to the US. That’s just the way I do it.
“I’m one of the few who does it but I’m fine sacrificing a tournament or two and maybe not feeling my absolute best here if I can kind of be fresher towards the last stretch of the season.”
It one way it does feel perplexing that a top player would be willing to sacrificed their chances at Wimbledon. However, Ruud explains his reasoning so eloquently that it makes perfect sense. If Wimbledon wasn’t a mandatory tournament, he would likely not be there.
So should the tennis world write Ruud completely off when it comes to grass?
“We all we all love a challenge,” he said. “It’s fun, but like frustrating at the same time because I cannot hit move or hit the ball the way I want to hear because it doesn’t give me an effect.”
Fornately for Ruud, more clay events are on the horizon in the near future.
