New player on the Team Europe bench - Ruud shakes up the Laver Cup

Norway’s tennis star Casper Ruud will play for Team Europe in the upcoming edition of the Laver Cup. The 2024 edition of the team-based competition will be played from September 20 to 22 in Berlin, and some of the top players will represent Team Europe and Team World.

In a post on the official account of the social media platform X — previously known as Twitter — it has been confirmed that Ruud will represent Team Europe. His arrival will strengthen the side going into the competition which will also consist the likes of current world number two and four-time Grand Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz, Germany’s Alexander Zverev, Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas and Spain’s Rafael Nadal.

The 25-year-old is having a very impressive season where he produced some notable performances. The Oslo-born has already won two titles in the ongoing campaign. He first lifted the Barcelona Open after beating Greece’s Tsitsipas in the final in straight sets with a score of 7-5, 6-3. He lifted the Geneva Open after beating the Czech Republic’s Tomas Machac in the final in straight sets with a score of 7-5, 6-3. Not only that, but Ruud also finished as the runner-up in the Monte-Carlo Masters, where he lost to Tsitsipas in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 6-4.

Other than that, the current world number nine in men’s tennis in the singles category also had an impressive run in the French Open, where his journey finally came to an end as he lost in the semifinal to Germany’s Zverev with a score of 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2. Ruud’s most recent appearance was at Wimbledon 2024, where he had a rough outing as he was knocked out after losing in the second round to Italy’s Fabio Fognini with a score of 6-4, 7-5, 6-7, 6-3. His next assignment will be the Swedish Open, where he will face Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro in the round of 16 clash on Wednesday.