Casper Ruud admits the ‘ongoing challenge’ he is now facing for the rest of his tennis career

转载声明：本文转载自 Tennishead，版权归原作者及原媒体所有。

Casper Ruud has made an honest admission at the end of what has been a challenging season for him.

Ruud has been through a mixed 2026 season, with his best highlight being his run to the final of the Italian Open .

However, the three-time Grand Slam finalist has also faced some struggles, with Ruud having to miss the US Open this year due to a back injury and dropping outside the top 20 for the first time since 2021.

Ruud has rediscovered some form at his penultimate tournament of the year in Stockholm, but he has admitted that there is now an issue he faces in modern tennis which will be a challenge for the rest of his career.

Seems like everyone Russian "German " is winning,hmmmm

Yeah i agree, definitely a big chance to win the ATP Finals with his current form!

Sasha enjoying the golden period of his career. He can win anything right now, since sinner is injured and alcaraz keeps losing quarters and semis

Ruud beat the in-form Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 6-3 to back up his previous win over Rafael Jodar and return to the Paris Masters quarter-finals for the first time in five years.

After beating Struff, Ruud spoke to Tennis Channel , where he was asked about the challenges he faces in tennis right now. Ruud responded by explaining how the majority of players can now hit hard on both the forehand and backhand side, which does not allow him to build up points as much, as he referenced both Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem .

“I think the most challenging part has been that the majority of players play with a high pace from both corners these days and to me I like setting up my points with a heavy forehand and getting to one, two, three forehands in a row,” said Ruud.

“A little bit like we saw Rafa do and Dominic Thiem do, two kind of my big idols growing up, especially on a clay court whenever you saw them running around on the forehand, you knew hey 80/90% chance they’re going to win the point now, because they’re just going to out heavy the opponent on the other side of the net.

“I think I’ve had to accept that players are able to kind of defend that heavy forehand top spin a little better from both sides, there won’t be that many long rallies in this modern day tennis because everyone pretty much serves well, returns well and rips whenever they see an opening.

“I think to me, I haven’t always dared to go for the big shots when maybe there was an opening or a chance, because trusting myself and my game, it was kind of relying on feeding the opponent one ball after another for the opponent maybe to make the mistake or until I get an even easier ball.

“But you see players, they kind of rip it from anywhere these days and try to do that a little bit more with my tennis, but it’s still an ongoing challenge and it probably will be for the rest of my career.”

Ruud now has an opportunity to reach the semi-finals of the Paris Masters for the first time, as he faces lucky loser Nuno Borges in the quarter-finals.

This will be a fifth meeting between Ruud and Borges, with the head-to-head currently level at two wins apiece. Ruud has won both of their previous meetings on outdoor hard courts, but Borges won their most recent match last week on the indoor hard courts of Basel.

Ruud will be hoping to avoid the same result happening again, when his quarter-final against Borges takes place on Friday, November 6.

The winner of this quarter-final will face either Carlos Alcaraz or Taylor Fritz for a place in the Paris Masters final.