"Lines are the same, dimensions are the same" - Ruud rejects 'clay court player' description

Casper Ruud is famously called a clay-court specialist, but the Norwegian is very dismissive of that, believing himself to be a complete player.

Tennis players work really hard on their craft, and while some are better than others on certain surfaces, being known as a specialist for a certain surface isn’t a descriptor many would be fond of.

Rafael Nadal is famously known as the King of Clay, which is a descriptor of that manner, but there is a difference between king and specialist. King implies being one of the best ever, which is something that most would embrace.

As for specialists, it kind of implies that they are only good on one surface, so most wouldn’t take it lightly. Ruud’s best surface is clay; it’s not a secret, and he wouldn’t dismiss that, but he doesn’t like being known as a clay specialist because he’s proven himself on other surfaces as well.

He has won a trophy on a hard court before, and he can play well on it, as proven by him making the Miami Open final earlier this year and the Canadian Open semi-final recently as well.

To him, it’s just tennis at the end of the day because it’s the same sport with the same court dimensions and the same rules. While he might enjoy playing on clay the most, he likes to play on other surfaces, too.

The only courts he famously doesn’t like are grass courts. He prefers to play golf on grass, not tennis.

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