WATCH: Casper Ruud Hilariously Tries To Hit Drone That Disrupted Estoril Match

Sunday, 07 April 2024 at 19:00

byJordan Reynolds

Casper Ruud is known as one of the nicest and most humble players on the ATP Tour, but he showed his humorous side during his Estoril Open semifinal against Pedro Martinez.

The three-time Grand Slam finalist has enjoyed many good results this season. This includes two consecutive runner-up finishes in Los Cabos and Acapulco. His run in Acapulco included a triumph against Holger Rune.

Ruud had started impressively in Estoril, where he was the defending champion. He was very commanding in his 6-3 6-2 quarterfinal win against Marton Fucsovics, showing why he was the favourite to claim the title again.

However, those hopes were then dashed in the semifinal against Pedro Martinez. Ruud suffered a shock defeat to the Spaniard, losing a high-quality and entertaining encounter in the deciding set.

Yet, the quality of tennis on show in the semifinal in Portugal was not the only thing that attracted attention. The match was disrupted for a short time in a completely unexpected way when a drone flew over the stadium.

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It was a somewhat amusing sight, although it was also frustrating for both players who were in the middle of their very watchable match. Unexpectedly, Ruud then elected to take matters into his own hands in a hilarious manner.

The Norwegian launched the ball he was set to serve with high into the air, seemingly trying to take the drone out of the sky. This was met with widespread laughter, cheers and applause from those inside the stadium.

Ruud not did stop there. He then took another ball and fired another shot at the drone. Unsurprisingly, even someone as accurate with his shots as Ruud was unable to make contact with the disruptive drone.

It was enjoyable to see Ruud's engaging personality shining through. He will hope to recover from his eventual defeat to have another strong clay court season.