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Coach Christian Ruud has revealed that Casper Ruud's goals for the rest of the season are to clinch a Nitto ATP Finals spot and finish the year ranked inside the top-10. Ruud, 22, is enjoying a breakthrough season on the Tour and he is hoping to end it on a high note.
Ruud has made four finals this year and he ended winner on all four occasions. As a result, he is enjoying a career-high ranking of No. 11 in the world. Ruud is currently the eighth player on the Race to Turin list but he can be counted as the seventh since Rafael Nadal is out for the season due to a foot injury.
In an interview with the ATP website, Christian revealed his son's goal for the rest of 2021 as he said: "It is to reach Turin and finish in the Top 10. He is focused on getting to the [Nitto] ATP Finals. Without clay, it may be a little bit tougher, but he can play well on hard courts, and mentally he is prepared.
There are six big events left this season and we will try to do well in all these events."
Ruud dominated on clay
After Wimbledon, Ruud captured three consecutive clay titles as he won it all in Bastad, Gstaad and Kitzbuhel.
"Casper has done really well on the clay, having some good results. We were a little nervous because he got injured in Acapulco and had to pull out of Miami and we did not get many practice days on clay before he started playing.
He played Mallorca and we were a little bit nervous about that, but then he had some really good results in Monte-Carlo and Madrid and also winning in Geneva," Christian noted. "It was then just amazing winning three titles in a row.
He wanted to take the opportunity to do well because they were the last three tournaments on clay. To win all three is a little bit more than we expected. Of course, we are happy."
