Slimmer Ruud finding new hard-court success in 2024
Just 10 weeks into the year, and Casper Ruud has already accrued more hard-court wins than he did across all of 2023. With back-to-back finals in Mexico and now a return to the Indian Wells round of 16, Ruud is back in the top 10 after briefly slipping down the ATP rankings. The Norwegian credits … Continued
Panoramic
Just 10 weeks into the year, and Casper Ruud has already accrued more hard-court wins than he did across all of 2023.
With back-to-back finals in Mexico and now a return to the Indian Wells round of 16, Ruud is back in the top 10 after briefly slipping down the ATP rankings. The Norwegian credits a focused effort to drop weight and slim down in the off-season.
“I think physically I’m feeling a little bit better this year, and moving better out on court,” Ruud explained following his most recent win over Arthur Fils at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Monday. “I took off a couple of kilos from last year. I think that’s been working well for me.”
“I have the power still in my shots, and I’m moving a little lighter on my feet.”
Ruud explains new, slim approach to tennis
Ruud’s drop in weight hasn’t come as the result of any specific diet, but more from a concerted effort to make the most of his off-season this time around.
“I haven’t been on a specific this and this, that many calories-only diet,” said Ruud. “But I had it in the back of my mind, not something that was kind of time pressure that I need to be this certain weight within this time. But last year in February I was around 84 kilos and this year I’m 80, so it’s four kilos less. Maybe doesn’t sound too much, but it’s 5% of my weight, which is something or at least something.”
Part of the focus from Ruud has come off the back of mistakes he made at the beginning of 2023, when he didn’t take a conventional off-season.
“Leading into 2023, I didn’t really have any offseason, preseason. I decided, I took the decision to join Rafa and play a few exhibition matches in South America, which didn’t leave me any time to do a proper preseason before the season,” Ruud explained.
“So after Australia last year, I took four weeks off from tournaments to do a little bit of a preseason but kind of after Australia. We focused a lot on lifting weights and building, you know, mass, muscular. And, you know, I was a little kind of too stiff in my movements, too heavy. Not going to say I was bulking, but I was a little bit bigger than what I am now, and that led to me maybe not being as light on my feet, quick in the reactions and so on.”
“It was something that I felt, you know, for quite some months last year that kind of bothered me a bit. I wasn’t quick enough. So something that we have worked more specific on on the fitness regime to do other exercises, not as much kind of weight lifting as we did last year, and I think it’s been working out well.”
Ruud has an excellent opportunity to make his deepest ever run at the Indian Wells Masters this week. The Norwegian has previously made the round of 16 once before, but with 37-year-old veteran Gael Monfils ahead in his next match, the world No 9 could very well make his first ever quarter-final in the desert.
There, he’d likely face a much tougher challenge, with 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic looming.
