"Little gimmick I bought online": Casper Ruud explains reason behind wearing black nasal strip at Dallas Open

Norway’s tennis star Casper Ruud has made an interesting comment about using nasal strip, similar to what Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz wore in the recent past. The three-time Grand Slam runner-up recently wore a black nasal strip during the Dallas Open.

He booked his place in the semifinal after his opponent, Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, was forced to retire because of a fitness concern. The match's final score was 7-5, 3-2. After the match, Ruud explained the reason for using the nasal strip, which has been famously worn by the former world number one Alcaraz in the past.

"Yeah, it's just a kind of interesting little gimmick I bought online, not on eBay, but another kind of interesting, maybe shady webpage,” he said. “I bought it to try during sleep because when I'm back home in Norway and it's cold during the winter, I wake up and my nose is blocked in a way. Whatever happens overnight, I'm not sure but I always have to blow my nose a lot in the morning so I thought maybe it can get a little more air in there and see how it works. It worked really well actually, I was surprised by how well it works. And I thought, why not try to bring it to practice, it feels like I'm breathing better so just a few percentage extra of oxygen through the nose, that's what it's about. For me, it works. Maybe it's a placebo or whatever, but I feel like it works. I've been playing quite well with it so why not keep it going.”

Ruud is now set to face Spain’s Jaume Munar in the last-four clash on Saturday. The Spaniard cemented his place in the semifinal after beating Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi in the final with a score of 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two in professional tennis.