Casper Ruud
is experiencing an inconsistent 2023 season with 12 losses to players outside
the top-50, jeopardizing his chances of making it to the
ATP Finals and
maintaining a spot in the top-10.
The
Norwegian tennis player faced another unexpected defeat in his pursuit of the ATP Finals this week at the Swiss
Indoors. In a hard-fought match, Casper Ruud couldn't overcome the challenge
posed by 21-year-old world No. 96 Dominic Stricker, suffering a disappointing
loss in the tournament's round of 16 despite entering as the second seed.
Ruud has
not only exited many tournaments early during the season but also raises
concerns about his current form, having lost to 12 players outside the top-50
this year. This is particularly troubling for a player who has maintained a
top-10 ranking for over two years.
World No. 8
is running out of time to accumulate enough points to secure a spot in the ATP
Finals, where he reached the final last year, facing defeat against Novak
Djokovic. Despite his position in the rankings, he is currently 11th in the
Race to the ATP Finals and is more than 450 points behind the last qualifier,
Holger Rune.
With only
the Paris-Bercy Masters 1000 tournament remaining, Ruud must leave behind his
inconsistent year and advance to at least the semifinals. He will also need to
rely on the results of other players who are ahead of him in the Race, such as
Taylor Fritz, Hubert Hurkacz, and Holger Rune.
Compared to
the past two years when Ruud reached the final of two Grand Slam events and
maintained his status as a top-5 player, his performance has significantly
declined after the clay season, where he reached the French Open final.
However, the story was different in the other Grand Slam events of 2023, as he
only managed to reach the second round in the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and
the US Open.}
