"I’ve been sort of expecting like a little down period": Ruud opens up on loss of form during 2023

Casper Ruud hasn't played well this year struggling with his tennis even on clay with the Estoril Open seeing him briefly return to some level of form.

Ruud has been really poor this year and outside of a few days of good tennis in Estoril, the Norwegian has largely performed like a player that maybe ranked around the 50th mark as opposed to in the top 10. It's not something he wanted to happen but he had a feeling that it might happen:

“I knew that this year was going to be a big challenge because the things that I did last year is not maybe going to happen every year you play. To reach two Grand Slam finals, obviously the Nitto ATP Finals at the end of the year, it’s not something that I expect to do every year. Obviously I’m trying my best."

He continued:

“The thing is, when you’ve done something before, to reach for example a Grand Slam final, you know that it can happen again because you have been able to do it before, so why not again? I think your expectations are a little bit higher coming into tournaments, which can be dangerous. If it doesn’t go well, you think, What am I doing wrong? What happened? Last year I was able to do this, why can I not do it this year? It can be a little bit challenging."

And finished off with:

“I said the main goal this year is just to try to defend some of the tournaments, some points, try to keep myself in the top 10 at the end of the year, is something that will still be my main goal.”