"Rafael Nadal has a lot of strange routines, even in golf" - Casper Ruud
Casper Ruud recently recalled the time he went golfing with Rafael Nadal, sharing that the Spaniard's famous pre-serve rituals extended beyond tennis.
Nadal, whose love for golf is well doumented, recently took part in 'The Battle of Stars' golf charity event alongside celebrated football coach Pep Guardiola and football stars Gabriel Batistuta, Alvaro Morata and Aritz Aduriz, among others. The proceeds from the event were dedicated to combating the degenerative disorder, ALS.
Ruud has also been open about his passion for golf in the past, even going as far as stating that his preparation for last year's edition of the Wimbledon Championships would primarily be centered around playing golf.
“I think grass is for golf players. My preparation for Wimbledon is pretty much just playing golf, you know, before the tournament, because I feel more comfortable on the golf course than the tennis courts on grass for now," he said at the time.
Ahead of Wimbledon 2023, Ruud and Taylor Fritz had the opportunity to meet British professional golfer and former World No. 1 Luke Donald as part of a promotional event. In a video on the official Wimbledon YouTube channel, the 2023 European Ryder Cup captain offered Fritz and Ruud a tutorial on perfecting their golf swing.
After receiving advice on how to better his swing, Ruud recalled his experience of playing golf with Rafael Nadal and poked fun at the 22-time Grand Slam champion's technique.
"I played with Rafa twice and he shot under par both of them. If he watches this, I'm just going to take sh*t from him because his swing is awful, it looks so bad but he makes it work somehow," he said.
The Norwegian shared that the Spaniard indulges in his customary pre-service routine while playing golf as well and imitated the 37-year-old's mannerisms in the video.
"He has a lot of strange routines, even in golf," Ruud said.
"It's a tough start" - Casper Ruud gives an insight into Rafael Nadal's training sessions
In a recent interview, Casper Ruud provided an insight into Rafael Nadal's intense and grueling practice routine.
"Usually, it's about 30 or 40 minutes without any rest or any water, so it's a bit tough start to the practice, usually," Ruud told Top Court.
The World No. 4 also described how his approach to training differed from the Spaniard's. While the Norwegian preferred to take his water breaks every 15-20 minutes, he mentioned that he had to forgo his breaks in order to keep up with Nadal's unforgiving training routine.
"I usually take water after 15 or 20 minutes, so it's about 20 minutes where I would like to have some water. But you don't really dare to ask him (Nadal) to sit down when he's controlling the practice and he does whatever he feels he likes or needs to," he added.
Rafael Nadal leads 2-0 in his head-to-head against Casper Ruud, with his most recent win against the Norwegian coming at the 2022 ATP Finals.