Two-time Grand Slam finalist Casper Ruud says he doesn’t play matches with ‘too much confidence’ these days after suffering a shock second round defeat at the US Open.
Ruud, who was seeded 12th in the draw, suffered a surprise 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 5-7 loss to Belgium’s Raphael Collignon. The Norwegian had a 2-0 lead in the deciding set but failed to keep his break advantage against the world No.107.
The defeat ends what has been a disappointing season for Ruud when it comes to the Grand Slam events. He also lost in the second round at both the Australian Open and French Open. However, in Paris, he was hampered by a knee injury, which later resulted in his withdrawal from Wimbledon.
“It’s a mix of what you do in practice, how the last matches have gone, which have not been great,” The New York Post quoted Ruud as saying. “I haven’t won that many matches, let’s say, in the last two, three months, also due to being out for a bit, but when I came back, I didn’t win that many matches to build up a lot of confidence in the matches. Also, feeling of mishitting a lot of shots, hitting a lot of frames out of my forehand, which is supposed to be my best shot. It’s not a good feeling.”
Rudd has experienced a roller-coaster North American swing. Earlier this month, he reached the fourth round of the Canadian Masters before losing to Karen Khachanov. Then, in Cincinnati, he lost his opening match to Arthur Rinderknech. However, he still has a positive win-loss record this year of 29-12.
Addressing his current form, the 26-year-old has admitted he is struggling for confidence during matches despite his talent. He has won 13 ATP titles so far in his career and has been ranked as high as No.2 in the ATP rankings.
“I can just honestly say I don’t play with much confidence these days,” he said. “Will I try to go back, practice even better, harder? Yes, for sure. And am I motivated? Yes, but in the matches I don’t over-boost confidence at them at the moment.”
Highlighting certain flaws in his game, Ruud admits he made ‘too many mistakes at crucial points,’ especially behind his forehand. He will now return to Norway to work on his game before playing the Laver Cup in San Francisco later this month.
