We Need To Talk About Casper Ruud... 

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A 3-time Slam finalist, but yet his only titles are in the 250 levels. Very interesting and different, indeed.

Remember Tomas Berdych? Super successful player who spent practically his entire career in the top 10 without ever winning a slam. He consistently beat the players below but also lost to the players above with equal consistency. Ruud could be the next Berdych.

Love this guy. At least he’s out there working hard and maxing out his talent. Seems a good guy too.

I think you understated just how terrifying of a weapon ruud’s forehand is. On clay, I would say it’s for sure an elite tier weapon and should be considered as one of the best forehands in the world with Rublev, sinner, Alcaraz and tsitsipas.

Casper is not rude at all. He is a nice dude. I just hope he has a good carrer ahead of him!

Ruud is probably one of the most underrated players of this generation. Thanks again for showing this in a good manner. Keep going!

Casper is a class act. I became a fan when he praised the U.S. on 9/11 at the US Open final, came across as very humble. Not the biggest fan of his playstyle but I am impressed with his three slam finals. I think he's going to have a great career.

Casper looks like a royal who hides his identity so he can play among commoners to pursue his dream

Ruud is definitely a top-10 talent. That said, that #2 ranking in 2022 was brought about by the wackiest year of tennis ever. Just the simple fact of no points being awarded at Wimbledon that year on Casper's worst surface is enough. Then you consider a certain GOAT who wasn't allowed to play in 2 GS and multiple Masters that year, injuries to other top players, and a good deal of luck in avoiding other top players in draws. The 5,850 points he had when he reached #2 at the end of the USO would have seen him ranked #5 or lower at most times (including right now).

My absolute favourite tennis player. To those who don't like Ruud's playing style, to each their own. But I, 100% love him for his playing style. With all those extra kilos, he struggled in much of 2023 for his own high standards, but here we are, going all in again!

I don't mind watching Ruud playing tennis... Appears to me always very coordinated and efficient player. His forehand is a real delight: very stylish and a true weapon. I watched him playing first time at Roland Garros against Roger and immediately stood out for me. He was very young but it looked like a very experienced player already. But yeah, he needs to improve many things to get better...not easy task as it almost looks like he peaked in what he was trying to achieve. He needs to rethink some fundamentals

Casper is an amazing player. The problem is, we currently have the greatest player of all times, two of the most promising players of all times and Medvedev, who is in a category of itself and can beat any of the previous ones in a good day. The rest can only aspire to get to the top 10 and Ruud has been in there for a long time. In my opinion, he's doing a fantastic job.

Yeah he made 3 GC finals but on the total of the 3 tournaments he only beated one top 10 player (n°6 Rune) to reach them. Hard to consider those finals as rapresentative of his level of play. Only 11 wins against top 10 players. Zverev has 50, Tsitsipas 32, Rublev 24. He has quite less than players like de Minaur, Rune, FAA, Hurkacz or Fritz. He is more on the Tommy Paul, Khachanov and Humbert categorie, which is already a super high level of play.

Great video, I am a big Casper fan myself but I understand your arguments and respect the reflection. I would love to see a video like this about De Minaur as he faces similar problems like Ruud in my opinion :)

Incredible content! I like a lot this kind of videos, really interesting and well argued. Looking forward to see more of this series. Thanks a lot :)

I find Ruud very likeable and believe that he has proven to be a top player. Nevertheless, I think he could believe in himself and his game more. He once said in an interview that he hopes to get easier opponents in a Slam final one day. And in moments like that I question a bit his attitude. I don't think an Alcaraz would ever say something like that and you could see in the Wimbledon final how much he believed in himself. He also did everything he could to prepare well for grass and didn’t play golf. Overall, I think the top players sometimes want it a bit more and are more convinced of their game. I really like the video again, by the way!

This was a well structured commentary which nicely turned the tables on the viewer. As always Ruud has taken stock and improved again in 2024. IMO his major current weaknesses are: 1) Shot choice is too predictable and easy to read. The grinding crosscourt backhand is on autoreplay. He stands to gain a lot (wrong foot his opponents) by going down the line even if he misses more. He has gone more the down the line but it's not used enough in the close matches with the best opponents. 2) Return quality is too inconsistent. To my mind too many floating chip returns. However, his return has improved his year. Love how he mixes it up with full swing returns from way back and stepping to the baseline to make fast angling returns. Major strengths: 1) fierce competitor who never gives up and continues to improve. 2) Serve and forehand combo is top 5 in the world. His serve is probably underrated by many. It has improved these past 2 years. Look how he outserved Shelton in Aculpoco! I look forward to seeing Ruud back in the top 5.

Results are results. Nobody cares if your path to the final was tough or not, as the player can only control his game. So we can't take anything from Ruud's results and to be n.3 in the world at anything is outstanding by any means. As he is facing tougher competition and not delivering, he must add new weapons to his game. For that to happen, he needs more than his father's mentorship. I totally agree he would certainly benefit by improving mostly his serve & return, as I feel he could get faster results by doing so. These two weapons often help to increase consistency when you are not confident or having a bad day. He reminds me a lot of David Ferrer: great attitude, hard work and low profile. I hope he adds more aggression and weapons and manages to raise his level on all surfaces.

your videos are so good its almost disturbing (not jealous at all ;) . The narrative, the choice of clips, the clarity of your voice all very captivating and informative. Keep up the amazing work👏👏👏

Love Ruud. Nice video ❤ this kinda of video, where you breadown every aspect of a game from a player is my favorite

it's incredible how big of a gap there is between top 3 and the rest of top 10 and top 10 and the rest of the world, this sport doesnì't leave room for randomness

Great video! Would love to see a Marat Safin video. One of the most entertaining player to watch with very interesting career with ups and downs

Video about Czech players. Lehečka, Menšík and Macháč.

And now, he’s finally won an ATP 500 title. Next up is a Masters title.

First off I love your vids and keep it up Maybe do a video about Fabian Marozan??

Great analysis. I saw a court level view of an indoor match against Alcaraz a couple of years ago and he was amazing, so when he then got to slam finals I thought he was going to be a Top 3 player for sure. For me with so many good young players emerging if you don't move forward you go backwards quickly and I think that's happening. He needs to work on new weapons and improve the old ones just to keep up. I wouldn't be surprised if he never won a slam though. The truth is slams aren't shared around all that much by the top players so you need a bit of luck.

Ruud needs a game rebranding, would love to see him become more offensive. It’s odd because I see him a defensive player, more closely related to a counter puncher than aggressive base-liner. Then I hear people praise his forehand but I think his backhand when more offensive is effective.

I think Casper is gonna figure it out. He might not ever win a major but I think he is a quality player when his mind and body agree

I’m impressed by the nuanced and thorough analysis of Ruud’s game here. Very high quality content. Instant subscribe to this 👍

Remenbering 2022, I got the impression Ruud was consistent and really smart, just not big enough guns. And that's a sealing that should put him at least below top5 always. Specially these Sinner/Alcaraz days.

Beat Djokovic and won a 500ATP tourney. Elite forehand and strong improvement on his backhand

Who is here after Ruud just beat Novak in Monte Carlo? So surprised to see many people write him off

Can u share what websites u use for tennis stats? Thanks

but he is a hardworker that's for sure !

Wow, that graph is so fascinating.

Very happy abt the more coverage of the wta!

i like this guy honest opinion on Casper Rudd.

The coaching situation is the most important thing for him. I’d like to see what Goran could do for him now that he isn’t coaching Novak

He might not be a very exciting player to watch for majority of people but he has incredibly movement and footwork and hits a nasty forehand. Love watching him.

Casper can do it! 2 RG finals and several atp 250. After he lost against Nole.in RG finale.2023, when Nole talked about the new strong generation, he talked about Sinner, Rune but not Ruud. Then Ruud did a very bad second part of 2023 season. 2024 is much much better! And when he attacks and is bold he s just amazing! 2 RG finals it just means he can do it. Tomorrow he can win. And will. And after he wins this 1st ATP 1000 he will earn so much confidence that he will reach top 5 1and why not top 3. It s a question of self confidence with him. Ruud is underrated for sure. When he s bold and believes in himself he can do it. Tomorrow.he will win for sure. He s one of the top of this generation and especially on clay

I believe he has the qualities to be easily and consistently around the top 5. But besides the reasons you listed, tennis is such a psychological sport and if you lack confidence because of whatever reasons I am sure that has an extreme influence on your performance. I hope he manages to get back to his best.

5:53 that's true! Ruud beat tsonga on tsongas final match.

He's the Sakkari of the ATP. 😅

Casper is such a kind and grounded guy. His parents did a great job and I would say he took out the maximum of his limited game. From playing skill side not a genius talent but very focused. Sad that he did not win a grand slam. He is already after his prime. Sinner, Alcaraz and Co have a bigger pool of skills.

Ruud is David Ferrer 2.0 and he has no special weapon to win any major tittles.

I feel like Casper has gotten a bit more creative when getting closer to the net since he's been playing the UTS exhibitions. Taking more risks and adding variety without tournament pressure

When I think of Ruud I think of Wilander who as just a grinder with no real huge weapons and no length on his ball. He did win some big ones however

We Need To Talk About Grigor Dimitrov...

Something that wasn't mentioned here: Ruud comes from Norway, a very rich & egalitarian country with a focus on team sports and very little tennis tradition. I think that has also shaped him a little into the player he is. Fair Play and humble demeanor is very important there. Maybe explains the lack of killer instinct sometimes.

Can he win a major? Absolutely (likely the French open). You don’t get to 3 major finals and the finals at the ATP tour final as a fluke. He has the ability to do it. The proper question to ask is WILL (not can) he win.

Can you do a video on the resurgence of grigor dimitrov career as I feel like it would be a good analysis and story

Where do you guys get the stats from?

After this technical and data analysis of Rude's game, they need to fire his coaching team

Lacks killer instinct. Like a true Norwegian, Ruud has the Nobel Peace Prize tattooed all over his facial expression. Plus, you look a lot like Ruud. Seeing your face, and with that perfectly ironed, tight-fitting t-shirt of a singing boy from Vienna, seems to us to be looking at Casper Ruud.

You can't fluke yourself into slam finals that many times. He is consistent in 2024.

Casper has consistency and a wonderful forehand to go with his hustle. Lately he has been playing too safe and gets bullied from the baseline. Now he isn't showing any further prigress. He's stuck.

Interesting video. I personally think Casper has the opposite condition of 'big match mentality'. He is really good at beating people he should beat. That's why he wins a lot of 250's and makes deep runs in slams. Surprisingly not many players win matches they should win, but Casper does. However to get to the top of the sport you need to be able to win those big matches where you're the underdog and so far Casper has not shown he is capable of doing so.

Do one on Rublev

Look, I'm fine with people commenting and giving constructive criticism, but some of you all in the comments are saying BS. If you aren't a top ten player, then I wouldn't say anything.

Anyone top 10 with 3 GS finals in their resume is an elite tennis player.

Great episode.. Maybe Hurkacz in the next one?

Ruud has one of the best Server +1's on tour

Some people make tennis look easy. Judging by their ridiculous comments. Sure his record in 2023 was a disaster. Reaching number 2 is no joke.

Just getting to a grand slam final is wild. How many people do that? Most pro tennis players don't even win titles. Getting to Nitto finals and 3 grand slam finals is a hell of an achievement. There's just always room to improve.

I don’t care. I mean look at him, just look at him!

The way you pronounce Casper, we in would write as Cæsper, it’s actually pronounced with the germanic or slavic A, as in the American word “tarnish”. Double uu’s is actually short and would be more more like rudd, or ruud with a fake French-American accent

Imagine Ruud Saw this video and he improves more and takes his advice

Who are you people comparing him to? He is what he is. His good consistent play and circumstances put him at 3 for 2022. He fell to 11 in 2023. He'll likely settle into a ranking of 10 to 15 if I had to guess. His best surface is clay and that's where he can beat top guys. Last year at the french he beat Rune and Zerev to get to the final. The year before victories over Hurkaca, Rune, Cilic.

He reminds me of the Spanish David Ferrer a lot ! ! his gameplay and movements and personality and all ! He must be Ferru 2.0 lol !

he just won against djokovic and is playing monte carlo final tomorrow :D give this man some credit

I don’t want to call the guy a pusher, because he’s not, but the guy doesn’t have a huge serve, doesn’t have an elite backhand or net game, and plays way to conservatively. The top spin forehand is great on clay but he doesn’t really do anything that overwhelmingly special on the court and he doesn’t have the 6’6 length and court coverage like Medvedev to make up for the lack of elite shot making ability

Casper is a great player. I do believe he will win his maiden ATP 1000 in either Monte Carlo or Rome this year.

If you compare to the players who are the same height, he has the best serve on that chart by a margin. He is also ahead of Carlos and De Minaur for aces per match. He's ahead of almost all top 100 players his height or shorter in the aces per match, including Alcaraz and De Minaur, and he's even ahead of dozens of taller players including Ruusuvuori and Norrie. Anecdotal evidence like the Tommy Paul match is weak. Tommy is a far superior returner and the stats are clear on that.

I knew this was coming😂

This is a fantastic video

yesss i love this channel and im the first one to like this vid!!

His game is just another David Ferrer

"We need to talk about Casper..."... besides he has a good looking face!!😂

The host is amazing he knows tennis! But the host ignored one thing Casper lack of FIGHT. Casper doesn't have the killer instinct he is too nice. He looks like he accepts losing the big finals. I am disappointed the host didn't explore Casper inferiority complex. Casper is a gentleman and I think his nice personality hurts him. Casper is too soft. He needs to man up and needs to improve return game. Casper is a handsome guy but he doesn't win big titles.I think Casper got potential to win a slam. He reached three slam finals that is more than most players. Casper problem he is too nice and doesn't believe in himself. He needs a sports psychologist and a new coach. Casper loyal to his father but he needs a change. Casper is unfortunately I think needs more power in game.

Casper my love

Casper is too happy and content. He has eclipsed his father which was his goal when he started. He’s well adjusted and has interests beyond tennis. Comes from functional, happy family. He has lovely, naturally beautiful girlfriend. Huge star in his county with many sponsors and prize money. Great champions have to be a little nutty in some way because the work and sacrifice and self belief are incomprehensible for mere mortals. In his interviews he comes across as not even a little embarrassed at being called 250 vulture. It’s the old, I’m just glad to be here-and he seems to be. It’s almost like he has no ego. Maybe he changes his mindset and brings in additional coaching and he can stay where he is or win a slam…. But the years are slipping by. He’s missing something in his charming personality, because the weaknesses in his game can be worked on or around with the will. That insane competitive will. He’s too normal. I wouldn’t compare him to Ferrer, because David had huge heart and drive and fought for every point, the energizer bunny wanted to win sooooo bad. And took those losses, especially in big tournaments, hard. Casper is like, yeah, but we’re going to have a nice dinner tonight. He’s one of my faves, maybe he took early outs in Sunshine as getting time to go to Europe and make big move on clay this year. He best hurry bc there’s going to be an impenetrable wall of top three players again soon. Only a lucky draw and a surprise out by someone like Soderling/Nadal will enable him to win a big title if he doesn’t switch something up. I couldn’t like him more, but I’m realistic.

It’s only a matter of time when he gets his big title win!!!

Obviously, Ruud fully deserved the n. 2 position in the ranking, as the latter is generated by the points earned in the various tournaments. Nowadays, many players are significantly stronger than him, so it is highly unlikely that he will return to such top positions. I think he will go further down due to the many strong tennis players who have been making significant progress lately. Same thing for Tsitsipas...

Wow. Ngl, it would come as a shock for me if he DID win a major. That’s not saying he’s bad, but I’m not sure he could pull that off

When are you making a video about "We need to talk about my fiddle leaf tree"? It looks really nice.

With less variation in court speeds today the best players can compete well on any surface, makes it harder for those good but not quite great players to break through. It's very likely we could see players like Sinner/Alcaraz,Medevedev rack up a large amount of grand slams between them especially with the old guard of Fed/Nadal/Djokovic on their last legs. Bring back slower clay courts and fast hard courts/carpet and we will see more one off winners and surface specialist type players.

On clay, Ruud is a threat against pretty much anyone. On hard courts, I do think he’s more of a fringe top 10 guy despite reaching a couple of big finals (most notably the us open). Grass we don’t even need to talk about.

At the moment he is playing some of the best tennis of his career, the best we have seen of him since US Open 2022 at least. We will know a lot more in two months time when Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros is done. He needs to develop his game and become a more complete player. His backhand was very good in Barcelona, especially in the final against Tsitsipas, but his dropshots are awful and he is uncomfortable at the net. He served well in Barcelona, but I am not sure if one could call it a weapon of his. His mentality is great and he seems motivated, but I am not sure he has the mentality of a champion. Players like Sinner and Alcaraz just seem a lot better than him to be honest. But I guess we will see in the coming weeks and months.

Watching this after he defeated Novak in Monte Carlo to get to th e final! Hope He wins 🤞

In 2019, Casper Ruud was playing in the second round of the Rome clay Masters. His opponent was being heckled after winning the second set and the supervisor would not stop the crowd shouting. During the third set the opponent was defaulted for throwing a chair. Ruud cheered, beat his chest and raised both fists with triumph. This is not the behaviour of a good guy. I have never seen any player beating his chest with joy at the disqualification of his opponent. It is simply not done. However, I expect that Mr Tennis Plus is happy with this behaviour as he has an extreme bias against the opponent.

Another trait is that he's just too nice. Sometimes I want him to be fierce, a bit arrogant but he can't forcefully do it even though he has such weapon - his forehand. I don't even know that he knows he has it, he's so frustrating to watch though I still and will support him.

Aloha you are right on ! Your contribution is an inspiration for staying with tennis 💐💦🌝🌈💚

I can’t believe he was almost #1 in the world I got nothing against him but he is not even close to 1 in the world caliber

I think he's very passive in big moments, like ATP Finals he lost to Djokovic he literally destroyed everybody very aggressive then come to Djokovic like a pusher, the same in the RG final against Nadal, very passive, all the big matches actually he was passive, he abdicated to control the match and gave all the initiative to opponents cannot have this gift.

This Ruud fellow never won anything in the ATP but a solid 250 tournament title guy!😮 Maybe, in doubles he go further!😊

Casper Ruud is such a good dude and class man. He does need to be more aggressive and confident tho. Too much hitting leaning back. Flatten out that fh for put aways. And develop that killer instinct and keep it against the bigger names.

Well, I like Ruud but I don't think he has enough talent to scare anyone on the top 10. His running forehand that he can consistently crush crosscourt winners is really his only weapon. That's just not enough. If he can improve his forehand and serve, he could beat some of these guys but I'm not holding my breathe.

I think he needs to improve his serve. He can have good success on clay and slow hard courts if he can put some of his weapons together, he’s athletic enough

he should have achieved more than what he have done now, can be the second most complete player other than Jannik Sinner, but he indeed needs more offense and no longer plays one-dimensional groundstrokes anymore