Before heading back to the tournament tonight, Casper Rudd, 24, tells who was the worst in the “big three” showdown.
On Tuesday night, Ruud had his first match in nearly six weeks when he met unknown Argentinian Guido Andreuzzi (31) at the ATP 500 Mexican Open.
If Ruud wins his first three matches, there could be another summit meeting with Dane Holger Rohn (19) in the semi-finals.
In this case, it would be the first meeting between the two Scandinavians since the quarter-final drama at the French Open in summer 2022, where Ruud won and then came out harshly against Ron’s post-match behavior.
There will likely be many tough duels between the two in the years to come. Rod is currently ranked fourth in the world, while Ron is ranked tenth. Rudd has more titles (9) than Ron (3), but Dane has the most victory. He really reached the top of last year’s Paris Masters when he beat Novak Djokovic (35) in the final.
The Serbian world number one is a player never before seen on Rudd. He has faced Djokovic four times without winning. He also met the Norwegian Rafael Nadal (36) twice and Roger Federer (41) times. He lost all matches, without winning a set.
– Worst to play against? Djokovic is a tough nut that I haven’t been able to crack. He has all kinds. It moves very well. He has a much better serve than it was ten years ago. He’s serving well and also strong in the Ducks reserve,” Rudd told VG earlier in February. After a vigorous training period, he organized a tournament for 300 children at the Oslo Tennis Court. He signed headbands, shoes, T-shirts, and tennis balls for about an hour. In return, he received admiring glances and grateful smiles.
The world number one met twice last year: in the semi-finals of the ATP Masters tournament in Rome and in the final match of the qualifiers.
He makes very few double faults, returning the best in the world. Djokovic is a complete player. He has no weaknesses. But he can show his temper, he can be an enemy, but he can also push him to play better. It’s hard to break him, says Ruud, who won’t run away from Djokovic in Mexico this year. The Serb does not participate.
But there are plenty of strong opponents for Rudd: Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, Holger Rohn, Cameron Nouri, Francis Tiafoe, Tommy Ball and Matteo Berrettini.
The “Big Three”, Djokovic, Nadal and Federer, have won the most titles for over a decade. Rudd predicts it will be more in the coming years:
– There are many players who have a chance to achieve great things and win Grand Slam tournaments, such as Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev, Carlos Alcaraz, Anna, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Taylor Fritz and Andrei Rublev, says Ruud.
– But if you had to pick a few names other than yourself, who would play the big games in the next 10 years?
– Alcaraz, Medvedev and Tsitsipas, replying to Ruud before the Hard Court Championships in Mexico.
- If Rudd wins in Mexico, it will be his biggest tournament win. All of his wins have come at the ATP 250 level.
Scroll through this gallery to see the players ready to take over the pinnacle of tennis after the Big Three:
1 / 7
“Infuriatingly humble internet trailblazer. Twitter buff. Beer nerd. Bacon scholar. Coffee practitioner.”
