Ruud’s father answers the ‘mother’ of all questions: “Better win a Slam or be No.1?”

Is it better to win a Slam or become ATP No.1? Casper Ruud’s father talked about it. It’s not a simple moment for the Norwegian tennis player. The three-time Grand Slam finalist was one step away from becoming ATP No.1, but has now slipped out of the Top-10, thanks to a series of negative performances and some physical problems.

With the tournaments on clay courts, which are more or less close, Casper is called to react, to disprove all the skeptics about his future.

Christian Ruud, father and coach of the Nordic tennis player spoke to Tennis Majors and made several interesting statements, answering the question I posed at the beginning of the article: is it better to win a Slam or become No.1?

“I was good at making a sport like tennis a little popular in Norway but Casper is much better than me and has attracted even more attention. Now I think this sport is becoming very popular and Norway is no longer it’s just winter sports but also something else, like tennis,” he said.

Casper Ruud© Darrian Traynor / Stringer Getty Images Sport

“Is it better win a Slam or become ATP No.1?”

Ruud is carving out an important space for himself in sport and his father, former number 39 in the world rankings, has highlighted his growth and skills.

“When he was young he was very determined, we left Norway to meet and find new inspiration, understand how others behaved with tennis and he was determined to do better than me.

Casper set himself goals, we talked about reaching the Top 50 by 26 but things went much faster. What are the future goals? In 2023 he won a title, reached a Slam final and always remained in the Top-10, yet there was talk of a difficult season.

For Casper it is more important to win a Slam than to become number one in the world and in 2022 he was one match away from both. The ultimate goal is obviously to win a Slam, then all tennis players want to stay in the Top Ten, but to win a title, we all know, that would be something really special,” he told.

Norway is a country that is clearly growing, even in soccer. Just think of Premier League stars like Odegaard and especially Manchester City center forward Erling Haaland, considered among the best sportsmen in the world.