The Norwegian youngster, Casper Ruud, has managed to show the tennis world that he is one of the brightest prospects on the ATP Tour.
A former junior No. 1, Ruud had all the makings of a champion player. However, fans were waiting for him to have a breakthrough season. After turning pro in 2015, Ruud had to wait till 2020 to capture his first-ever ATP title. Ruud indeed bagged more titles in 2021 than in this year but his spectacular performances at Grand Slams in 2022 have made him a force to reckon with.
Ruud had an unfortunate start to the season as he was forced to withdraw ahead of the Australian Open owing to an ankle injury sustained during practice. He came back strongly to win the Argentina Open in February by defeating Diego Schwartzman in the final. After a dismal outing at the BNP Paribas Open, where he was ousted in the round of 32, Ruud finished runner-up at the Miami Open. At the Italian Open, Ruud played some sublime tennis en route to the semis, where Novak Djokovic outclassed him and ended his campaign.
The talented youngster won his second title of the season at the Geneva Open by defeating Portuguese veteran, Joao Sousa in the final. Ruud made history at the French Open by defeating Marin Cilic in the semis as he became the first Norwegian man in history to reach a Grand Slam final. He eventually lost to his idol, Rafael Nadal.
Ruud picked up his first win at the Wimbledon Championships by defeating Albert Ramos-Vinolas and this was also his 150th career win.
In July, Ruud successfully defended his Swiss Open title by defeating Matteo Berrettini in the final.
Records galore in the second half of the year as well
Ruud lost to Hubert Hurkacz in the Canadian Open semis. He surprised a shock defeat at the Western & Southern Open against Ben Shelton. Ruud managed to bounce back emphatically at the US Open.
He made it to the finals and faced Carlos Alcaraz in a blockbuster affair. The winner of the match wasn’t only going to bag his first Grand Slam title but also reach the top of the ATP rankings. In the end, it was the Spaniard who triumphed over Ruud.
However, Ruud scripted history by becoming the first Norwegian man to reach the final in Flushing Meadows.
He reached the quarterfinals at the Korea Open. However, at the Japan Open and the Basel Open, he was ousted in the round of 32. Ruud lost in the round of 16 at the Paris Masters. He took part in the ATP Finals and secured his place in the knockouts with consecutive wins against Felix Auger-Aliassime and Taylor Fritz. A loss in his final group encounter against Nadal did not matter as it was a dead rubber. Ruud defeated Andrey Rublev in the semis but lost to Djokovic in the final. However, he can look back proudly at how his season panned out.
Ruud won 51 singles matches this season and lost 22. He bagged 3 titles and earned a prize money of $6,930,042. The 23-year-old finished the year as the world No. 3 in the ATP rankings. He will look to continue his impressive rise when the season begins next year.
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