Rafael Nadal is and will always be the King of Clay, I've had a great time at the academy learning from him: Casper Ruud
Norway's Casper Ruud reached his third consecutive Masters 1000 claycourt semifinal on Friday as he beat Alexander Bublik in convincing fashion. And immediately after his win, Ruud spoke about Rafael Nadal's loss to Alexander Zverev earlier in the day and also gave props to Nadal's academy for his progress on the tour.
Casper Ruud has practiced with his idol Rafael Nadal on multiple occasions in the past. Ruud first trained at the Rafa Nadal Academy in 2018, and in the time since has repeatedly described his stints there in glowing terms.
Trading hits with the 20-time Major winner has seemingly done wonders for the Norwegian's game. He has made rapid progress since the resumption of the tour last year, and this week in Madrid he has beaten several quality opponents en route to reaching the last four.
During his post-match press conference on Friday, Casper Ruud was informed about the fact that many Spanish fans have already taken to his topspin-heavy game. In response, Ruud asserted that he had had a great time learning from Rafael Nadal at the latter's academy, which in turn has helped him develop such an effective claycourt style of play.
The Norwegian also insisted that the tag of 'King of Clay' still belongs to Rafael Nadal despite his Madrid exit.
"It was tough for Rafa today," Ruud said. "But he is and will always be the King of Clay, one I'll look up to for all my life. I've had a great time at the Rafa Nadal Academy learning from Rafa, the coaches, Toni, happy with progress we've made."
"That was a shame" - Casper Ruud on cancellation of Madrid Open in 2020
Casper Ruud was also asked whether he was surprised by his Madrid run, but the 22-year-old replied that he had been particularly eager to play the Masters 1000 tournament. The Madrid Open made a return to the tennis calendar this year, after being canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ruud suggested that many players, including him, had been disappointed that they couldn't play in Madrid last year. The Norwegian added that he had been looking forward to playing at the Caja Magica for a whole year, which helped him remain motivated for the event.
"I think it was a part of the season last year that I was looking extremely much forward to," Casper Ruud said. "I felt it was taken a bit away from not just me but all the players when everything got postponed, some of the tournaments were canceled. That was a shame."
"I think I just kept my motivation for a year and have the double motivation to be here this year luckily," he added. "This was one of the tournaments that we didn't get to play last year. I'm just trying to enjoy the moment and take care of the chances that I get."