Casper Ruud – Page 2 – TennisReporters.net

2023 Australian Open favorites

January 15, 2023 by Matthew Cronin

The women

With the women, clearly, the favorite is No. 1 Iga Swiatek. But, she has never won in Melbourne. She can be very aggressive on the hardcourts. Last year, Ash Barty won it and then retired. However, one of the Americans, Sofia Kenin, won it in 2020, but then she went straight downhill. Maybe she will get going again but she has to turn thing around quickly, because she has to face Vika Azarenka in the first round. Azarenka won it twice in 2012 and 2013. Now she is playing decently, but she is not great right now. Both of them are super fierce and then they can go for the lines. Sometimes they miss it, the other times they can control play in the backcourt. But, to win it, that would be very surprising.

Three American women should reach the second week or to get into the final: Coco Gauff, Madison Keys, and Danielle Collins. But 18-year-old Gauff, who reached into the final at Roland Garros, would have to beat Świątek in the quarters if they both advance to that round.

Keys is a former US Open finalists and Collins reached that level at the Australian Open. No one won, but at least they played were tough outs all the way to the finals. Maybe something occurred, either they were too nervous, or maybe they were not strategic.

Another veteran, Jessica Pegula, is ranked No. 3, which means that she has been much more assertive with her ground strokes. She won Guadalajara in the fall and that was her best tournament ever. However, she has yet to go deep at the Slams, so this will be a huge challenge for her to show she can dominate in a major.

There are others who can win a Slam for the first time: Caroline Garcia, Aryna Sabalenka, Maria Sakkari, Daria Kasatkina, Belinda Bencic and Amanda Anisimova. The big question is: Does anyone here have a real shot?

The men

To win the Australian Open, you have to be super patient and also mash the ball. Novak Djokovic has won it eight times,and Rafa Nadal grabbed it twice. Serena Williams also won it many times, but she retired last year. Naomi Osaka, took it twice, but now she is not playing because she is pregnant.

There are some people who can win a major for the first time. How about the men? Yes, Djokovic and Nadal, who won it last year, are the favorites,. But, there are more than a few who can win it for the first time like Nick Kyrgios, Andrey Rublev, Casper Ruud, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Matteo Berrettini and Americans Taylor Fritz, Sebastian Korda and Frances Tiafoe.

Here is what is odd: among active men only Djokovic, Nadal and Stan Wawrinka have won Aussie Open in the past 25 years. Repeat: no one managed to grind it and nail the shots. Plus, those three really understand what to do during the matches. Plus, their strokes, serves and returns are fantastic. Medvedev managed to reach the final against Nadal last year. He was so coherent all the time, but in the finalps fifth set, Nadal threw some astonishing shots and he beat him 7-5. The Russian can look so steady, but after that he was mentally down. If he rises again, then perhaps he can be much more solid.

The Aussie Kyrgios is one of the hardest hitter on court. He can slug his forehand, he can clip his first serve and he really likes to be creative during the points.

There are some who have a real chance to control matches and go deep at the Slams, such as the basher Andrey Rublev, the thoughtful Casper Ruud, the hustling Felix Auger-Aliassime and the Mr. Variety Matteo Berrettini. Now there are three American men who are seeded and can go deep too: Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe and Sebastian Korda. Fritz won Indian Wells last year, upsetting Nadal. At the ATP Finals, he looked very good, but it will be different at the Slams. Tiafoe reached the 2022 US Open semis and he was spinning around, and he hit some unreal shots. So if he can go into the semis, then perhaps he can take the gloves off. Korda’s dad, Petr, won the 1998 Australian Open. So, if Sebastian can lock in early, then without a doubt, he can reach into the second week — or further.

Three players have outside chances to the final at Melbourne, such as Andy Murray, Marin Cilic and Dominic Thiem. They have all won a Slam — not on the Australian Open — but they have took it on the hardcourt. It is possible that they can win more than a few matches, but to win it all, that would be almost shocking.

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Left, Lead Story Tagged With: Andrey Rublev, Andy Murray, Casper Ruud, coco gauff, Dominic Thiem, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Frances Tiafoe, Iga Świątek, Jessica Pegula, Marin Cilic, Matt Cronin, Matteo Berrettini, Matthew Cronin, Novak Djokovic, rafa nadal, Sebastian Korda, Taylor Fritz

Quarterfinal picks at the 2022 US Open

September 6, 2022 by Matthew Cronin

Casper Ruud vs Matteo Berrettini
The 23-year-old Norwegian broke out two years ago. Clearly, he knows that if he wants to make No. 1 someday, then he has to improve his strokes. He and the Italian have played each other five times already, which is unusual, so they know each other well. In Gstaad in July, Ruud beat Berrettini to win the title, and now it is 3-2 head to head. Both of them can slap the ball, but also, they can be very patient, and can change it up. “You need to obviously guess right sometimes, and sort of see if you can try to read where he’s going,” Ruud said. Without a doubt, when they get on court, it will take hours before they finish. It really is a toss-up, but Berrettini will win it in five nutty sets.

Ons Jabeur vs Ajla Tomljanovic
The Australian eliminated Serena Williams. Now, she finally made it into the quarters at the Grand Slam. She has been around for a long time, and she has been pretty decent, but not unreal. But over the past eight days, she rose, and has shown confidence. Plus, she likes to talk with the journalists. However, Jabeur played some assortment points. She is so quick, and she has so much variety. Yes, she has won against a number of the top 10 players, but she has yet to win a major. However, this year, at least she made into the final at Wimbledon, and she lost to Elena Rybakina. This time, though, Jabeur will be ready and beat Tomljanovic in straight sets.

Nick Kyrgios vs Karen Khachanov
The Aussie has become a real force. His serve is huge, his forehand is massiv, and currently he has added rushing the net and putting away volleys. However, Khachanov is a huge swinger, and he can crack the ball. He is not the fastest, but when he is right there, then he can belt it. Khachanov would love to go very deep at the USO, but Kyrgios will hit many aces and winners, too. He will win it in four hardy sets.

Coco Gauff vs Caroline Garcia
These two have played some fantastic matches this summer. They both have gone deep, and they have beaten a number of the top players. Gauff reached into the final at Roland Garros, and a couple weeks ago, Garcia won Cincinnati. From the backcourt, they can run all day. The American who can hit winners from all over the court. Te Frenchwoman can also be patient, but finally, the veteran started to be much more gung ho. That will be a really banner match, with some wild points. In the end, the teenager will out-hit Garcia right and win it in three thrilling sets.

More coverage
Here is my story about Frances Tiafoe believing he could take down Rafa Nada at the US Open.

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Right, Lead Story Tagged With: Ajla Tomljanovic, Casper Ruud, Karen Khachanov. Coco Gauff, Matteo Berrettini Ons Jabeur, Nick Kyrgios, us open

Rafa Nadal wins Roland Garros, but will he play Wimbledon?

June 10, 2022 by Matthew Cronin

Rafa Nadal reached his 14^th final at Roland Garros. And, he has won them all. On Sunday he easily won, stepping on Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-3, 6-0.

He lost just six games. He played almost seamless. The new comer, Ruud, could not get in and find any kind of a solution. He was battered.

Nadal was already to sprint on the clay, and he poked it to take-no-prisoners.

Nadal, who now has won 14 majors in Paris, and overall, he has 22 Grand Slams. He is the current best player ever.

The “King of Clay” is ahead of Novak Djokovic, who has 20 Slams, and also, Roger Federer has 20, too. It is possible that Djokovic can win a few more Grand Slams, and if the Swiss returns at some point, the 40-year-old Federer will have a slight chance to win again, but that would be almost impossible because he has been seriously injured a lot in the past few years.

The 36-year-old Nadal is also hurt quite a bit. He has to decide to play Wimbledon in a couple more weeks, as his foot is very sore, so much so that he couldn’t feel it. The doctor helped him, each day, and he managed to not only smack his phenomenal forehand, but his backhand is so steady. Plus, at the net, he can just put it away, and at the drop shots, too.

Will Nadal go to Wimbledon?

“If I am able to play with anti-inflammatories, yes – to play with anesthetic injections, no. I don’t want to put myself in that position again,” Nadal said. “That’s what we are gonna try. If that works, I gonna keep going. If that not works, then gonna be another story. And then I gonna ask to myself about if I am ready to do a major thing… a major surgery that don’t guarantee me to be able to be competitive again and it gonna take a long time to be back.”

If he does not play, Djokovic will be there, the favorite [who Nadal beat him in the quarters at RG]. Alexander Zverev looked terrific at RG, and then he wrenched his leg and he retired against Nadal. It would be surprising that Zverev can actually play at Wimbledon.

England announced that Russia and Belarus cannot play there, due to the terrible Russian invasion into Ukraine. So at least right now, the No. 2 Daniil Medvedev won’t be there, as well as Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov, among others.

It is early, but in a few weeks perhaps that Stefanos Tsitsipas, Carlos Alcaraz and Felix Auger-Aliassime will ready to touch on the grass.

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Left, Lead Story Tagged With: Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud, Novak Djokovic, rafa nadal, roland garros

TennisReporters.net 2021 year-end review: top 10-6, the men

December 29, 2021 by Matthew Cronin

10. Jannik Sinner
This year, the Italian certainly improved a good amount, having more self-trust and confidence to hit some different shots. He smashed the ball and was more patient. The 20-year-old is not close to reaching his potential. Month after month, he seemed to be more mellow. He does have a gigantic forehand and his backhand is consistent. Those are the positives. But there were a few negatives this year, when he lost in the first rounds, six times. That is a lot. Next year, he should pull it back, and re-think what he should do on court.

9. Hubert Hurkacz
The very tall Pole has revamped his game over the past year. He has a lot of variety, with his big forehand and his firm backhand and can go very hard or soft right over the net. If he falls off his game, then he knows how to pick it up. He needs to return a lot better. But, he can scramble. Even with a big jump in the rankings, out of nowhere on the clay he would underachieve. In 2022, if he wants to get deeper into the top 5, then on clay he will need to find more success.

8. Casper Ruud
The Norwegian mentioned that his forehand and his backhand were just fine. During the summer, he needed to improve his return. So, he worked on it a lot, and now it is better. He really likes to play on the dirt, which is surprising. But he got used to it. He is pretty smart, beating four very good players like Diego Schwartzman, Pablo Carreno Busta, Fabio Fognini and Stefano Tsitsipas. He has to swing out with his backhand and certainly at the net. Next year, he has to develop more if he wants to win an important ATP 1000.

7. Matteo Berrettini
In July, the Italian reached the final at Wimbledon, and lost to No. 1 Novak Djokovic in four tough sets. Before that he won the title at Queen’s Club on grass. He is versatile, and on clay, he reached the final in Madrid. This year, he stepped on the gas, and he decided that he was good enough to swing away and grab more winners. His serve has improved a huge amount, when he held 80 percent when it was 0/15. That is very difficult, but he did it anyway. He has won some titles, on clay and grass, but next year, can he figure out how to understand to win on the hardcourts? He will try again, and he should flatten it out more. Whack it.

6. Rafael Nadal
The older he gets – when he is healthy which is rare, now – he still is extraordinary. His forehand is mind blowing, with heavy spin, very deep, crosscourt, down the line, wherever he aims. That is why he has won 20 Grand Slams. When the rally begins on clay, he is the master. He is patient when he is about to serve, he sits way back when he is returning, and he gets it back, much more than most players. That is, except with Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, and Stan Wawrinka, who also can return constantly. Yes, the Spaniard Nadal does not have a fantastic backhand, but it is much better than when he came on tour. He also has improved a lot at the net, and now he can put it away. The questions is: Can he win another Grand Slam title? Clearly, he is always the favorite at Roland Garros, but the 35-year-old is getting hurt a lot these days. Sure ,he has a chance to beat anyone, anytime. But, when he walks on the court, can he make sure that he is 100 percent? One way or another, he just loves to battle.

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Left, Lead Story Tagged With: Casper Ruud, Hubert Hurkacz, Jannik Sinner, Matteo Berrettini, Rafael Nadal

Muguruza & Ruud win the titles at Chicago & San Diego

October 4, 2021 by Matthew Cronin

There are times when Garbine Muguruza disappears. She doesn’t hit with enough depth, which just adds to her mental struggles. However, this year she has become very focused; when she hits a bad error, she forgets it, and moves on.

On Sunday, Muguruza beat Ons Jabeur 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 to win at the inaugural Chicago Fall Tennis Classic
Going into the match, the Spaniard realized she would just have to suck it up and continue to raise her game. By the third set, she was locked in.

“We’ve played recently, this year at Wimbledon, and it was a very tough match, and I knew that she’s having one of the best seasons that a player can have. I was prepared, I went out there with all the fighting spirit in the pocket,” Muguruza said. ”She was playing amazing in the first set, and my level was not at what it should be to play against her. I slowly found a space in the second set to break and to get that one, and force a decider. That gave me the extra confidence I needed, and also the energy to go and get the trophy.”

Muguruza has won two Grand Slams at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. When she finds her focus, she was one of the best players out there. After those major victories she did not understand why she couldn’t be much more consistent. She is fast, and she can bash the ball, with her forehand and backhand. When she is on fire, she can mix it up, and be very patient. Now the No. 6 has a chance to contest at the WTA Final once again, and then maybe she can beat all of them. When she is on, which is certainly possible. As long that she can be totally driven.

Ruud gets fifth 2021 crown
Norwegian Casper Ruud won a title, too, grabbing the San Diego title. In the final, he played almost perfectly, crushing Cameron Norrie 6-0, 6-2. He is getting better all the time.

“It’s a fun thing to say it, but obviously Daniil [Medvedev] and Novak [Djokovic] have bigger titles, so I wouldn’t mind switching up with them if I had an opportunity to switch five 250s to three Slams and a 250 Novak has,” He said. “It’s a bit higher level, but that’s fine. I think that’s more impressive obviously than five 250s, but I will take it,” Ruud said, “It would be fun to end the year with the most titles, I cannot lie about that.”

The 22-year-old is now ranked No. 10. In San Diego, he put down Andy Murray, Lorenzo Sonego, Greg Dimitrov and Norrie. In July, he started to play much better, winning Geneva, Bastad, Gstaad and Kitzbuhel. He is in the top 10 and leads the ATP Tour with five crowns in 2021..

“I tried to be playing really good in finals knowing it’s now or never. This is the time to bring your ‘A’ game,” Ruud said. “This year I’ve been perfect in finals, five of five and playing against good players in all of them.”

Ruud really admires with Rafa Nadal, who he has hit with him more than a few times. He also likes another top player, Dominic Thiem. Obviously Nadal is the king of clay and Thiem grew up on it. Nadal and Thiem figured out to excel on hard courts. Ruud is paying attention, winning his first of six titles on the San Diego hard courts.

“Nadal is the perfect example and I think also Thiem a little bit,” Ruud said. “I think the general media has considered both Nadal and Thiem (as) you know big-time clay court specialists and Nadal has won even two times in Wimbledon. So it just goes to show that it’s possible for the heavy topspin players to play well on the surface.”

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Right, Lead Story Tagged With: Cameron Norrie, Casper Ruud, Chicago, Garbine Muguruza, San Diego

California rising, in Indian Wells

May 21, 2021 by Matthew Cronin

To start, California’s Indian Wells will play in October, which is fantastic. Over the years, in March, hundreds of thousand fans came out and watched some thrilling matches during the day and night. Last year and early this year, they couldn’t play due to coronavirus. But they waited. Last week the owners decided to push into October when many more people will have taken the vaccine. So now, it is time to try again, with the players and the fans. Go for it.

Roland Garros will start in May 29. Here comes the Grand Slams again. But, this week, who will rise up and play fantastic? Who is playing great, who is mediocre, or someone who is playing bad?

Here is the first one. Casper Ruud believes that he can reach the second week. He has had a good year, taking down Diego Schwartzman, Pablo Carreno Busta, Fabio Fognini and Stefano Tsitsipas. Ruud is playing this week in Switzerland. The 22-year-old has much more aplomb.

”I’ve shown myself that I’m up there at the high level of clay court players and I can compete well with pretty much any player on clay,” Ruud said. “I’ve been winning a lot of good matches against good opponents. So, it gives me a lot of confidence going into the Roland Garros and I have to say I’m hoping to be in Paris for the second week of the tournament. That’s my goal.”

Ruud did mention that his forehand and his backhand are strong, but he needed to improve his return, so he worked on it a lot, and now, it is better.

As he said, later, he might be playing terrific, but he is not there to knock off the big boys: [But] “I’m not a rock star in Norway yet,” Ruud said.

This was a stunner last Sunday. During the final in Rome, Karolina Pliskova lost 6-0, 6-0 against Iga Swiatek. Yes, who would believe that? The 19-year-old Swiatek won the 2020 RG and, when she plays on clay, she is incredibly good.

The 29-year-old Czech Pliskova has won some big wins over the years, reaching the final at the 2016 US Open, winning Rome in 2019, and grabbing other titles, such as Cincinnati, Doha and Brisbane.

But Swiatek was on fire in Rome, every game.

“[Swiatek] didn’t give me anything, but sometimes I just tried to make it a bit difficult just to put the ball in. I just was feeling horrible out there,” Pliskova said. “She really made it extremely difficult for me to do any point. She was playing super fast. I thought she was just going for it. She had amazing day and I had horrible day. She’s really extremely confident on clay,”

Swiatek is powerful, and more than that, she can mix it up and it is hard to read where she will go. She does like to adjust.

“She can just redirect so well and she can play even faster, and especially on clay. Because she has so much spin, it’s super tough to do something from it,” Pliskova said. “She had amazing placement of the ball. Everything was super, like, deep and just like close to the lines. She was serving quite big. She has a good serve overall. I think she didn’t have really any — I think overall she didn’t really miss anything today. Even though I was not playing great, but she was having maybe a moment of her life,”

Swiatek can win it again to win another Slam. On the other hand right now, Pliskova is in the cloud.

MORE
Sloane Stephen has won three wins in a row. Two years ago, in Madrid, she reached the semis. Two years later, she lost so many early matches, and currently she is ranked No. 65. Now the former US Open champ is in Parma this week, she appears to be slightly back. We hope …
Grigor Dimitrov lost again. He can be pretty good, but week after week, he can collapse. … Dominic Thiem lost this weekend and really thinks he can win RG for the first time. He has been there twice in the final but Rafa Nadal took him down. To do that, he is going to have to pound Nadal’s backhand, over and over.

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Right, Lead Story Tagged With: Casper Ruud, Dominic Thiem, Iga Swiatek, indian wells, Karolina Pliskova, Parma, roland garros

TennisReporters.net 2020 yearend review: top 30-26 men

December 2, 2020 by Matthew Cronin

30. Ugo Humbert
The 22-year-old Frenchman is playing hard. While he is gradually coming up, he has to take more care of his game and improve his shots. He did upset Stefano Tsitsipas this year, and he also topped Marin Cilic. Normally those would be major victories but the Greek had a dusty year and the former US Open champion Cilic slumped a lot. The lefty Humbert can smash his backhand. In October, he won Antwerp, Belgium. In January, he won Auckland. There were mediocre matches, but when he is feeling fine, then he can put it away, falling there opponents. If he returns better in 2021, then he can find in the top 20. of

29. Taylor Fritz
The American had a good year; maybe not great all the time, but he plays so many matches. In the summer, it looked like he was getting smarter and more powerful. But, at the US Open, in third round versus Denis Shapovalov, he lost 6-2 in the fifth set. He was very disappointed. After that, in Europe in the fall, he was 3-6 He must have been exhausted, because he was a little bit flat. He is still young, and he can be thoughtful. He can hit the ball with strength, but, just like other young players, they have to learn to return, attack the net and show some variety. With some improvements, he will try to break into the top 15.

28. Benoit Paire
He has been a constant for a very long time, with 224 wins and 239 losses. When he retires, the 31-year-old will be thinking: I was pretty solid, but he could not crack into the top 15. He tried, but he pushed him back. The Frenchman can be arty as his game is all about the hot shots. He can slide around, and chop it. Or he can whiff. As he has said, sometimes he can play great, or the next day, it is not working.

27. Casper Ruud
Not many people who live from Norway and there are just a few competitors who have competed on the ATP Tour. During the summer, they play outside, when it is warm. But, in the fall, here comes with freezing temperatures. They play indoors, and there are some terrific areas. But, when you live there, you have travel a lot to southern Europe,and the United States. Ruud seems to know how to bang the ball, and he can run it a lot. His father, Christian, is his coach and a former ATP Tour player. Maybe Casper can add to his game, and meld it up. He has the potential.

26.Dusan Lajovic
The 30-year-old had a fine year. He can climb even higher because he has finally matured in the last two years. He was hurt significantly, but when he returned, he was sharp. In Italy a couple months ago, he upset Milos Raonic in 2 hours and 32 minutes, a heroic win. Can he finally enter the top 20? It is up in the air. He is very good, but can he really thrust himself and upend some slick players. I am just not sure that he will leap into the top-10 ever.

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Right, Lead Story Tagged With: Benoit Paire, Casper Ruud, Taylor Fritz, Ugo Humbert

Nice titles but great competitors don’t play 250s/Internationals

February 22, 2020 by Matthew Cronin

Was last week a positive one for pro tennis? Oh, sure, props to the winners, Gael Monfils, Kyle Edmund, Casper Ruud, Kiki Bertens and Magda Linette. They all had terrific tournaments, because they won. And I am sure that they are extremely happy.

However, the vast top competitors did not play last week. None of those five winners have won a Grand Slam. They may never do that.

It is very rare that the best players — the Slam winners —play the ATP 250s or the WTA Internationals. It is super rare, especially for the men. More of the top women play the Internationals because the WTA doesn’t have as many tournaments as the ATP.

With the guys, they are supposed to play all the four Grand Slams, and the ATP Masters 1000s— let alone the ATP Finals. That means they have to play at least nine ATP events, in total, so you have to compete 13 tournaments combined.

The fantastic players, such as Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer, can skip the 1000s, because they have gone very deep everywhere on hardcourts, clay and grass. Their number of points are huge, which is why that Djokovic, Nadal and Federer are No.1, No. 2 and No. 3. They rarely play the 250s. At the 500s, they will play a little bit, during the year, such as Acapulco, or Barcelona and Switzerland. But after that, exactly when and why? Also, with the women, Serena Williams loves playing the Slams, which is why she has won 23 majors. But, playing other events, there were years when she would pull out, because she didn’t want to go. The big players just want to stay home.

In 2019, Djokovic only played one 500, in Tokyo, not three. So, two of them provided no points. But he is No. 1, so it really doesn’t matter. The same thing went with Nadal, who got hurt in 2019, and he couldn’t play three times at the 1000s, but he wanted to regain No. 1. He did in the fall after he won Canada and the U.S. Open.

Federer is 38 years old, and he is always thinking how to handle his schedule. In 2019, he decided that he wouldn’t play at two 1000s: Canada and Paris. In the ATP Tour 500s, he did play Dubai, Halle and Basel, winning all of them. That is all good, but Federer had three zeros, and because of that, a lot of people won’t bother attending the 250s. Why? When he isn’t there, the fans are disappointed so they won’t go.

If you are an owner of those tournaments, how will you bring in the fans when you aren’t sure who is playing? There are thousands of people who love tennis, and they will go to the events just to watch them. But, those people – the diehard fans – truly understand what tennis is, with the rallies, the strokes, and how fast they are running. It is amazing. Truly.

This is reality; at the 250s [the men], and the Internationals [the women], that I have seen, over the past 27 years, there weren’t many fans at the events, especially early during the day. I mean, not much.

During the spring, on Monday through Thursday in the afternoon, there are very few people at the events. At night, it is a little better, but not much. It is not only that certain people are working and cannot go, but also because in order to take a day off, they have to know who is playing and is it worth it? A few, or some, will do it, but it is pretty rare.

That has happened when I started writing tennis, and doing radio, and still goes on today. You can’t pretend. But, it was packed during the weekend, here and there. There were more people to watch the semis and the finals, especially in California, where I live. But before that…ugh.

At the ATP Tour 250s and the WTA Internationals, it hasn’t changed at all. The owners have tried, for sure, but it is extremely difficult to get attendance to watch the “unknown” players. Without sponsorship and TV income, these smaller tournament would rarely survive.

So once again, props to Monfils, Edmund, Ruud, Bertens and Linette, for winning the event, but none of them have reached the Slam finals yet and maybe they never will. Or maybe they will play fantastic for seven matches and shock the world. That would be very surprising, but I cannot see it.

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Right, Lead Story Tagged With: Casper Ruud, Gael Monfils, Kiki Bertens, kyle edmund, Magda Linette, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal