Casper Ruud welcomes UTS rivals Alex de Minaur and Dominic Thiem to his home city of Oslo.
As they enjoy the spectacular views, they get down to talking about some of tennis's toughest topics - from Grand Slam scheduling to getting beaten with a double bagel.
The trio discuss their memories, experiences and hopes for the future as well as the generational differences on tour.
0:10 - Casper Ruud introduces Alex de Minaur and Dominic Thiem to Oslo
1:00 - De Minaur reminisces about winning UTS in Antwerp, while Thiem talks about his own experience in the format as well as the exhibitions during the lockdown era
2:04 - The three talk about how they lived during lockdowns, with de Minaur explaining the strict rules in Spain.
3:23 - Ruud talks about being quarantined for Covid in a hotel in Acapulco, while de Minaur missed the Olympics due to a positive test
5:18 - They wonder if they will compete in the Olympics in Brisbane - "Our last one, maybe?" says Ruud.
6:50 - "Are there many clay courts here?" asks de Minaur of Ruud, who explains the weather conditions and tennis facilities in Oslo
7:30 - Ruud says he plays clay-court tennis because he enjoyed watching Rafael Nadal
9:16 - The three talk about the possibility of playing a whole calendar year just on clay
10:03 - Playing Nadal at Roland-Garros
12:01 - Ruud says you need a great backhand to make inroads into Nadal's game, and the three talk about what it is like to face him.
13:49 - Playing when injured
14:48 - Ruud says Nadal's record at Roland-Garros is unbeatable
15:20 - De Minaur talks about playing Nadal on grass at Wimbledon
17:24 - Nadal's backhand: "It's heavy! It's crazy!"
18:16 - De Minaur played Roger Federer once, in the Basel final - "He gave me an absolute lesson!"
20:16 - Getting double-bagelled
21:53 - De Minaur on junior tennis: "It's a long road - it doesn't guarantee you anything"
23:12 - Players from their generations who progressed from junior tennis to the top 100
27:09 - They talk about the rule changes to UTS since its inception, with de Minaur and Thiem comparing it to when they played in early events
29:45 - Ruud talks about the challenge of facing Benoit Paire and Gael Monfils in the UTS format - particularly the narrow net
30:36 - Ruud on whether tennis could follow golf and have a two-year ranking system
31:44 - De Minaur suggests that a better solution would be to reduce the tour schedule
33:40 - Ruud on the tour: "It's an ongoing non-stopping stress factory"
36:31 - De Minaur suggests a longer off-season would mean that fans anticipate the start of the new year with more relish
37:50 - Ruud says he would like schedules to start later in the day, with Thiem saying that he feels like that at Grand Slams when play starts at 11am
40:48 - Ruud wraps it up
18 мар 2024
