Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud have become the talk of the tennis community after teaming up for the doubles event for the ongoing Swedish Open 2024 in Bastad. This new “bromance” is being loved by fans and will be seen again in the semifinals. After their quarter-final win, Ruud showed how friendly he is with Carlos Alcaraz as well.
In the post-match interview, the Norwegian star was asked about Alcaraz and whether he has called him up to seek some advice on how to play with the Spanish legend at the Olympics 2024. Ruud had a witty response, which left Nadal smiling too.
Here’s how the conversation went:
Interviewer: “Carlos is playing the Olympics with Rafa later on. Has he called you yet to ask for some tips?”
Ruud: “Carlos? He’s busy probably partying after winning Wimbledon so he has all the rights to enjoy and take some rest. If he wants, I’m available on the phone!”
It seems rather selfless of Ruud to agree to give some tips to Alcaraz. It’s because Ruud could potentially take on Nadal or/and Alcaraz in either singles or doubles at the Olympics, representing Norway.
So this proves just how friendly Ruud is with both Alcaraz and Nadal and knows how to be light-hearted off the court as serious he is on it.
Ruud Is Full of Praise of Alcaraz And Sees Lot of Nadal in Him
Interestingly, the man who Alcaraz defeated to win the first Grand Slam of his career, was Ruud. It was in the US Open 2022 final. Ruud also has an unwanted record of losing to another Spaniard, Nadal in a Grand Slam final, i.e. at the French Open in the same year.
So Ruud could not help but shower Alcaraz with a lot of praise and compare him to Nadal once.
“I think I’ve said it at least before, he’s one of these few rare talents that comes up every now and then in sports.”
“Rafa, when he was Carlos’s age, he was also similar. He tracked down everything. Almost no one could hit a winner on him.
“Novak the same with his flexibility. Carlos has sort of a mixture of both. Speed, agility of the players I think are just improving,” Ruud said in an interview with Tennis.com.
Ruud and Alcaraz have shared laughs and constantly laughed together before and after the 4 matches they have played so far. The last time they played each other was at the Beijing Open 2023 quarterfinals, in which Alcaraz prevailed in straight sets.
Interestingly, Alcaraz has never lost to the 2-time Grand Slam finalist. To top it all, the reigning Wimbledon champion knows Nadal well too. So one wouldn’t imagine the young Spaniard calling up Ruud for tips as it should be the other way round.
But a clash between the two emerging stars of tennis is on the cards soon and that could be at the Olympics as Ruud is a player to watch out for on clay.
