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Casper Ruud: This Week’s Player To Watch (May 5-May 11)

Casper Ruud in action ahead of the ATP Rome Masters

Every week, LastWordOnTennis will highlight a player to keep an eye on as tournaments are played around the world. This week’s selection is Casper Ruud.

The Madrid Masters has begun and there have already been some incredible match-ups. Matteo Berrettini beat Fabio Fognini, Kei Nishikori beat Karen Khachanov, Alexander Bublik beat Denis Shapovalov; what most caught my eye, however, was the player that dished out a drubbing to Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Casper Ruud is our pick for this week’s player to watch. Here are a few reasons why you should tune into the world #22’s tennis.

Ferocious Spin

Ruud has one of the spinn-iest games on tour.

His forehand can exceed topspin rates of 55rps. That’s more spin imparted on his forehand than Rafael Nadal and Jack Sock.

To top it off, his backhand has also got one of the highest spin rates at around 45rps. Ruud’s backhand is therefore the most spinny two-handed backhand on tour.

This makes Ruud one of the toughest opponents to fight from the baseline, especially on clay. Ruud’s shots have plenty of margin for error and shoot off the court, making it extremely tough to stay aggressive against him.

Dangerous under the radar

Ruud has been using his weaponry to cement himself as one of the best clay-courters on tour.

His heavy groundstrokes have earned him at least a quarterfinal showing in nine of the last eleven clay court events he’s played. Several weeks ago, he earned a semifinal showing at the Monte Carlo Masters where he beat defending champion Fabio Fognini, in-form Pablo Carreno Busta, and lightning fast Diego Schwartzman.

Though he is ranked #22 in the world, the pandemic makes it difficult for players to increase or decrease their ranking. In the race to Turin, which only takes into account points earned in 2021, he is ranked #11 in the world. If we only looked at player’s clay results for the year, Ruud is actually fifth best in the world.

Despite his success, Ruud still remains out of the limelight going into these tournaments. This may be because he hasn’t reached a final since Buenos Aires last year. Whatever the reason, Ruud has been taking advantage of the lack of pressure by posting dominant wins over high-profile players, with the aforementioned Auger-Aliassime winning only five games against him on Monday.

Don’t let Ruud slip under your own radar.

Father-son duo

Only one other Norwegian man or woman has ever been ranked in the top 100 in the Open Era.Casper Ruud’s father, Christian, reached a career-high ranking of #39 in the world in 1995. Though he won 12 Challenger titles, Christian Ruud never won an ATP title.

At only 22 years old, Casper Ruud has already eclipsed his father’s achievements. Christian Ruud doesn’t seem to mind though as he travels the world with his son, coaching and advising him along the way.

This could be part of the reason Ruud has settled into life on the ATP tour so easily.

Casper Ruud: This Week’s Player To Watch

Casper Ruud is exuding confidence at the moment. With the help of his father and a bucketload of spin, Ruud could potentially make a decent run in Madrid. His next opponent, Yoshihito Nishioka, will be a stern test but Ruud should be able to overpower him.

The man of the moment, Stefanos Tsitsipas, will likely be waiting in the next round. That match would be a scintillating prospect.

Be sure to catch Ruud’s next match at around 16:10 CEST Wednesday.

Main Photo from Getty.

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