ZipRecruiter Player Resume: Casper Ruud continues to climb

ZipRecruiter Player Resume: Casper Ruud

Forget the role of an aspiring challenger: Now a three-time Grand Slam finalist, Casper Ruud is a bonafide contender.

Ruud burst onto the ATP tour with a singular goal: become the best Norwegian male player ever, surpassing the career of his father, Christian Ruud. The elder Ruud peaked at a career-high ranking of No. 39 in 1995, and remained as the standard-bearer for the country until his son passed him in the rankings in February of 2020 on the back of his first career title in Buenos Aires.

"Now I’ve beaten his ranking and won an ATP tour title, something he wasn’t able to do … I beat him in two different ways now, so I think now I don’t need to hear the question anymore, 'Will I beat my father?'," he said three years ago.

"Now I’ve done it, so I have to try to think even better and that I can reach even further."

Ruud has only continued to rise since then: First the Top 20, then the Top 10, and even further still, a best ranking of world No. 2 after runner-up showings in Paris and New York last year.

This spring, he repeated the runner-up feat at Roland Garros, and played his part in Novak Djokovic's further ascent into tennis immortality.

Having set out to be better than his father, Ruud has already has claimed the surname for himself in his own right. But having proved his worth on clay courts, where he already boasts 100 career wins, and on hard courts in New York, Ruud has one final mountain to conquer: the living surface.

He's only played nine matches on grass courts in his career, and last year, the Norwegian -- a talented golfer, too -- mused that he only likes grass when he's on the greens. In three Wimbledon appearances, he's just 1-3 overall, and has lost in the first round twice.

"I think it's fun to play on grass. Whenever I said that last year that golf is for -- grass is for golf players, it was more of a joke, that got taken too seriously," he said after losing to Djokovic last month. "But I think it's fun to play. It doesn't suit my game very well. I feel a little uncomfortable in it.

"But it's always so fun to come to Wimbledon. It's maybe the most historic event that we have. If you ask people around the world, I think most people will say that they have heard about Wimbledon because of the name and all these things.

"I really look forward to being back there. ... Going to try to be ready and give it my best effort."