Ruud, in his first UTS final off clay: “Try to hit shots you wouldn’t normally go for in a regular match”
The Ice Man fell short in the final against Alex de Minaur, but overall it was still a very positive weekend for him.
Casper Ruud – UTS London 2025 © UTS Tour
Casper, first time you reached the final of UTS outside of clay conditions. There is something and we could see that with the sudden death in your control of the format. Edition after edition do you control more format?
Casper Ruud : I think so. I’m getting more and more experience, so that obviously helps. I know. Today (UTS London Grand Final against Alex de Minaur), I didn’t use the bonus card very well, but I feel like I know when it’s good time to use it. If I come to the sudden death I have at least played a few times before. I know the kind of pressure and the feeling, but it’s never easy. If you play a normal match, let’s say an ATP tour, how many times does one player win two points in a row? It happens all the time. It can be either me or the other one. So it’s fun. It really keeps you on your toes. I went to the final and I’m happy with the result.
Let’s talk about this sudden death. You won two of them. Pretty quickly. You said this edition is by fortune. It’s not by fortune. There’s something you did pretty well.
Last night I needed to win with Ugo (Humbert). We went to the sudden death, and I knew it was time to go for it. Also today against Andrey (Rublev), I was close to losing the match. Luckily, I turned it around. The sudden death, anything can happen. Those two that I won, I was able to go for it more. That’s what Cerundolo did to me. In the first one, he hit like 3 or 4 winners and was playing too good. I was thinking, I cannot be defensive now. Against Ugo and and Andrey, that worked.
You’ve been crushing your backhand down the line all weekend. Is that an area of your game you’ve focused on to improve here ahead of next season?
For sure. This is a format you want to try to win and fight for the trophy. But at the same time you can try to hit shots. Maybe you don’t always hit in a regular match. You have a lot of nice points shots around the net here. Sometimes the dropshot is not always the best shot, for example. I had some some nice shots myself and against me, so it’s fun. I’m trying to improve every aspect of my game. It’s a little different when you are used to seeing like, singles, doubles lines, and the net a bit wider, suddenly it’s smaller. It can be a bit different for the eyes, but it’s fun to try for different formats.
be prepared and ready for hopefully a healthy 2026 and a good one
You went quite often at the net today and had a lot of success. I just wonder if that’s something you’ve got to try and do more in 2026.
I think it’s a game that the last weeks I spent a lot of time coming to the net and practicing my volleys more. It’s something that I see top players in the world do more and more and bringing it. Both Carlos (Alcaraz) and Jannik (Sinner) are not afraid to come forward. If you hit a good groundstroke, you tend to get an easier volley. You can see it with Alex (De Minaur) as well, how he can sneak in. When he gets me running, he’s there at the top of the net. I do have to play an unbelievable passing shot, or you’re pretty much dead. It’s a good move, especially on a hard court. Definitely something I will try. But it has feel right at the same time.
Have you seen you going out of your comfort zone this last few days when you’ve been doing that or how has it felt?
No, it felt okay. I hit some good volleys. I hit some not so good volleys. I did come in on the right shots. Sometimes I was past, that’s okay. Other times I hit some really good winners and volleys. All right.
What’s next now for the coming weeks?
Next is to go home a few days, maybe rest and continue work. Fitness, a lot of fitness in the coming weeks and of course, tennis as well. And be prepared and ready for hopefully a healthy 2026 and a good one. We start in Australia with the United Cup, so I will play Alex again in a few weeks. I’ll try to have my revenge down there.
