Casper Ruud finds Olympics inspiring as unique event for tennis stars
Casper Ruud believes that rubbing shoulders with great athletes from other disciplines makes playing tennis at the Olympics a unique experience.
Ruud, a former Roland Garros finalist, will compete at the Olympics for the first time and is a realistic medal hope for a nation who have enjoyed far more success in the winter Olympics.
He feels that every athlete in the Olympics upholds the dreams of the children watching at home dreaming of achieveing sporting greatness.
Norway won four gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics. In the men’s 400-meter hurdles final in athletics, Karsten Warholm emerged victorious, while Jakob Ingebrigtsen claimed the top spot in the 1500-meter race. While Anders Mol and Christian Sorum teamed together to win men’s beach volleyball, Kristian Blummenfelt triumphed in the men’s individual triathlon.
“It’s motivating. Seeing that other athletes are also doing well, we can inspire each other. Tennis, golf, football, track and field, athletics, you name it. It’s suddenly a little bit out of nowhere,” Ruud shares during a catch-up in Paris. “It’s blooming with all these sports and athletes doing well. It’s fun to be part of that group.
“I think the ultimate goal, or hope, is that we can also inspire kids back home, to believe that you don’t have to be from America, or Spain, or a big country, to be able to do well.”
Ruud is delighted to be part of a new wave of athletes from Norway making waves in global sports.
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“Tennis and sports in general are growing and going in the right direction in Norway,” feels Ruud. “The primary school is just next to the club. Kids come down to watch and they seem to be very excited. And I tell them that they can be in the same situation, if they work hard. I myself was just like them.”
The number of new members to the Norges Tennisforbund (Norwegian Tennis Association) has increased by 40% in the last five years, according to Aslak Paulsen, the federation’s secretary general. The COVID-19 pandemic’s circumstances helped to spark momentum, but Ruud’s breakthrough career—which has already resulted in three major finals and a career-high No 2 ranking—has also been a big factor.
“Casper has done magic for us, both with member growth and Norwegians getting more confident that we can achieve something,” says Paulsen. “I think it’s important both with people working within tennis and those looking at us from the outside. We see more companies that are interested in tennis.”
