“In the zone” Casper Ruud talks racquet tweak after opening Laver Cup win

Casper Ruud found himself in a familiar position, opening Laver Cup action for a fourth time in five appearances. Armed with a new racquet, the former world No. 2 got Team Europe off to a winning start with a 6-4, 7-6 (4) win over Team World’s Reilly Opelka.

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Ruud opened up about the nigh-imperceptible switch on court after improving to 5-0 against Opelka, having navigated a close second set to ultimately ease through the tiebreaker at the Chase Arena in San Francisco.

“Not the biggest change,” Ruud confirmed. “Just a few adjustments: frame size, head sizes, balances, weight. You can do a lot of tweaks and things here and there. So, it’s still the same frame, just a bit of a smaller head size and it was working well today. Maybe I need to keep it going.”

The 26-year-old began experimenting with his equipment after a second-round exit from the US Open, moving from the Yonex EZONE’s 100 square-inch headsize down to the 98 square-inch model.

“When you lose early, you have more time to practice, so I guess I used that time well. I feel really good here and I’m looking forward to the rest of the weekend.”

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Ruud has been a Laver Cup stalwart since making his debut in 2021, winning five of six singles matches for Team Europe and helping lead the team to three of their last five championships. Against Opelka, commentator Jim Courier noted Ruud looked like his was “in the zone” against the 6’11” American, who was playing only his second Laver Cup.

“Good observation by Jim,” Ruud said. “That was the goal, to be in the zone, make a lot of balls, make him play and get Europe off to a good start. So, I’m really happy with the match and with the work. I was in the same position last year and lost the opening match, so it was good to get some revenge and begin strong for Europe.”

The Norwegian also paid tribute to former Laver Cup coach Bjorn Borg, a former world No. 1 who announced a prostate cancer diagnosis earlier this week. Borg had planned to step down from his captaincy ahead of this year’s competition, 1983 Roland Garros champion Yanick Noah assuming the role as of this week.

“They’re both great people,” said Ruud. “Bjorn, I think we all wish him all the best. I saw the news that he came out with earlier this week. So, we all wish him a speedy recovery and that he’ll recover fully. It was great to play under his wings. You know, Swedish-Norwegian, we had an easy communication going on there.

“Yannick is one of the most chill guys I ever met. He’ll take it easy and hopefully we can make it this weekend as chill and easy as possible for him.”

Ruud is followed on court by Miami Open champion Jakub Mensik, who will face Alex Michelsen in the hopes of expanding Team Europe’s lead on Day 1.