"She was a bit unfocused but it was fun" - Casper Ruud opens up about sharing court with American singer Pink, jokes about her umpiring skills
Casper Ruud has shed light on his experience meeting famous American singer Pink at the annual Desert Smash charity tennis event.
Pink was in California to participate in the event alongside prominent figures from the film and music industry, including Sean Penn and Robin Thicke.
A tennis enthusiast, Pink spent time with players like Ruud, Frances Tiafoe, Grigor Dimitrov, and Victoria Azarenka, chatting and taking selfies. Making the most of his opportunity, Ruud shared some quality moments with the American singer.
In a recent conversation with Eurosport Tennis, Ruud reflected on his experience meeting Pink. The Norwegian divulged that he rarely meets any superstars and thus was "starstruck" when he witnessed Pink for the first time in real life.
"It was great. I mean, You know, I'm typically coming from a small country like Norway. I've never really met too many big superstars of her caliber before. So, anytime I meet someone... very known celebrity, I sort of get starstruck," he stated.
Pink also officiated an exhibition set between Ruud and Tiafoe during the event. Touching on the incident, Ruud jokingly stated that Pink was "unfocused" at times, before conveying that it was all fun at the end of the day.
"She was umpiring exhibition set that I played against Frances Tiafoe. She was a bit unfocused sometimes but it was fun. It was a fun match for some charity for donations and stuff," Casper Ruud expressed.
Meanwhile, Dominic Thiem, who also spoke to Eurosport, opened up about his liking for Pink's work.
"I like it. I have a lot of songs of her in my playlist. I love the songs of her. My mom is a big big fan of her," he said.
Thiem also spoke about unexpectedly witnessing the American artist taking tennis lessons at the resort he was staying at before the charity event.
"Actually it was funny because we were going to do a fitness session in our resort. I think "She was a bit unfocused but it was fun" - Casper Ruud opens up about sharing court with American singer Pink, jokes about her umpiring skills -- we were in the same resort staying here and we were going on the last court and then there was like a tennis lesson next to us and one friend of mine said 'Ah that's Pink here,' and then I said 'oh yeah that's true' and it was also like a very fun moment because It was cool to meet and she was very nice," he added.
"It's great to sort of cross paths" - Casper Ruud on getting the opportunity to meet Pink
Casper Ruud also observed that celebrities like Pink somewhat resemble the lifestyle of tennis players and that it is great to cross paths with such people.
"She obviously has traveled the world as we have and performed for millions of people. So. sometimes it can remind a bit of tennis players' life and sometimes, it's completely different. So, it's great to sort of cross paths and nice to hear that she's a tennis fan," he opined.
Meanwhile, on tour, Ruud most recently featured at the 2023 Indian Wells Masters, where he suffered a third-round exit upon losing against Cristian Garin.