'Motivation A Little Higher': Ruud On Wimbledon With ATP Points Again

Monday, 03 July 2023 at 13:00

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byZlatko Vodenicharov

Casper Ruud isn't the biggest fan of grass tennis but he understands the importance of points so he's motivated for this year's Wimbledon.

Ruud's affinity for grass-court tennis has always been rather low as the Norwegian joked plenty of times that grass is for golf and not tennis. The Norwegian didn't play any preparation events for Wimbledon this year which was not surprising after his deep Roland Garros run.

He opted for various other activities including Golf which he jokingly once referred to as his preparation for Wimbledon. The Norwegian likely won't ever win Wimbledon but he's capable of producing a solid enough level to make him a consistent performer on the surface. Speaking ahead of the event, Ruud admitted that he's not expecting too much from himself which can be beneficial.

I mean, the good thing for me on grass is that I don't have too much expectations of myself. I can play quite freely with my shoulders down. I don't consider myself a very big favorite to do well here. So that kind of takes some pressure off of me.

I can just try to enjoy as much as I can have fun, come to the net every now and then if there's a chance and I can play the matches a bit more freely. And let's see if I can do well from tomorrow.

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There is one thing this year that motivates Ruud to do well at the event and that's the ATP points. Wimbledon is after all a Grand Slam event, one that awards the most points out of all so doing well is very beneficial for all players. That wasn't the case last year when the event was stripped of its points.

I think the motivation to me is a little higher this year with ATP points back in. Unless you're one of the favorites to win, I don't think it really mattered where the points are.

For Novak for example last year, I don't think he was really bothered if there were points or not, because he won the trophy. So then you, you don't really need to think about the points.

While Ruud plays for trophies like most players, point matter to him a lot as well. He wants to play at the ATP Finals, an exclusive events reserved only for the best players in the world and to do that he'll need points. Any amount is a good amount.

For me, who isn't one of the favorites to do really well, I think every point I can just kind of gather to my ranking is a plus and it can be important towards the end of the year. Every match is important every week is important, if you're trying to make the ATP Finals.