‘I just kind of felt like I was running in a hamster wheel’: Former world number 2 Casper Ruud on mental struggles | Tennis News

A day after he defeated former world number one Daniil Medvedev in the Madrid Open quarter-finals, former world number 2 Casper Ruud has revealed about his mental struggles in recent months. The Norwegian, who had reached world number 2 in 2022 with his final appearances in French Open and US Open, had his last grand slam final appearance in 2023 when he had reached the French Open final. The last two years have seen 26-year-old Ruud having the 2024 French Open semi-final appearance as his best in grand slams and the Norwegian has fallen down to world number 15. A critic of the hectic ATP calendar, Ruud termed playing on the tour like running in a Hamster wheel.
“I can talk briefly about it. I think in this life you have to be honest with yourself when something is not working and something needs a change for the better. Even now if I’m playing well, I can still choose to be even better, maybe mentally or I can choose to improve my backhand or my serve. So there’s always room for improvement. I just kind of felt like I was running in a hamster wheel that never got anywhere. This professional tennis life is sort of like a hamster wheel that just never stops. I mean, except for six weeks in November, December then you’re back at New Year’s,” said Ruud post the win on Thursday.
Ruud, who had for the first time fallen out of the world top ten last year, last won a ATP title in the form of the Geneva Open. It was his 12th title win in his career and the Norwegian has also reached the quarter-finals in Paris Olympics, where he lost to Felix Auger- Aliassime. This year, Ruud suffered a second-round loss in the Australian Open before he finished runner-up in the Dallas Open.
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“I have not been feeling great mentally this year, but I have sought help which has really helped me and I’ve been feeling a quick response and feeling a lot better. So that’s really helped to have someone to talk to about certain things and it’s a tough life in many ways. I felt like I needed to jump out of this hamster wheel to review where I was going, but now I’m back on the hamster wheel but with a better mentality.” said Ruud.

Thursday’s win over Medvedev was Ruud’s first win in four matches against the Russian. It also meant that the Norwegian extended his record of wins in ATP masters 1000 clay-court quarter-finals to 7-0. Ruud did talk about his record against the Russian post the win. “I looked at the stats last night and saw he (Medvedev])beat me on grass, outdoor hard court, indoor hard court. Last surface remaining is clay, so please don’t make it 4-0. At least it’s 3-1 now.” Said Ruud post the win.
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