Having simply arrived house after a disappointing second-round loss on the Australian Open in January, world No. 5 Casper Ruud wanted a pick-me-up.
As he so usually does, he turned to golf. It was far too chilly to play outdoors within the Norwegian winter, so he went to a simulator and felt higher after hitting some balls that have been small, arduous and white moderately than fuzzy and yellow.
This week, golf will once more take priority. Ruud is skipping this week’s ATP 500 Rio de Janeiro Open — which is performed on clay, his most popular floor — to play within the Mexican Open, which begins on arduous courts in Acapulco Monday, Feb. 24. Earlier than going to Acapulco, he’s headed to Vallarta for one more Mexican Open, this time in golf, the place he’ll play a pro-am occasion Wednesday, Feb. 18 forward of the PGA Tour’s absolutely fledged match there.
Acapulco is greater than 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) away from Vallarta, however Ruud performed an Final Tennis Showdown (UTS) exhibition occasion in close by Guadalajara final week and has been practising on the tennis court docket in addition to the golf course in Vallarta. Earlier in February, Ruud reached the ultimate of the Dallas Open. He performed a number of rounds of golf earlier than and after that occasion, too, bringing his golf equipment with him for the February and March stretch of the tennis season, which is performed totally on arduous courts in north and central America. Ruud, a tennis skilled however golf obsessive, is in his aspect.
“I’ll attempt to stay calm, however I’m only a actually curious golfer, so whoever I get to play with they must be ready for me asking tons of questions on golf,” he stated in a current cellphone interview. “So I really feel a bit of bit unhealthy for them.” The professionals in query shall be America’s Taylor Moore for 9 holes and Ruud’s fellow Norwegian Kristoffer Ventura for the opposite 9. His tee time is 8:58 a.m. native time Wednesday.
Ruud is broadly thought of to be the most effective golfer on the ATP Tour and competes together with his dad and coach, Christian, as soon as ranked No. 39 in tennis, and a great pal to shoot the most effective whole rating on the golf course by means of every year. Ruud edged his pal by simply 5 photographs in 2024. “It simply reveals — each shot issues throughout the yr,” he says.
Ruud, a 26-year-old three-time Grand Slam finalist, is a part of an extended line of ATP and WTA gamers previous and current who swap fortunately between tennis and golf. On the up to date males’s tour, four-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz is sharpening up his expertise and changing into more and more ; fellow top-10 participant Alex de Minaur is a part of a gaggle of Aussies who wish to play competitively collectively, and males’s world No. 1 Jannik Sinner is attempting — and largely failing on obtainable proof — to enhance his swing.
Swinging into trip… 🦊😂🏌♂️
📷: @darren_cahill pic.twitter.com/WmFTbUWRLs
— Janniksin_Updates (@JannikSinner_Up) November 25, 2024
Golf maps onto tennis in quite a few methods, from the abilities required to the low threat of harm that gamers search for in a downtime exercise that retains them transferring. It fulfils the necessity for competitors however is much less adversarial than their essential sport, sharing a course for 18 holes being very completely different to participating in quasi-gladiatorial fight from the opposite facet of a web. It’s additionally biomechanically advanced in a means that tennis gamers are accustomed to, even when these two sports activities of swings share little else in frequent.
Eight-time Grand Slam champion Ivan Lendl tried to make it as a golf skilled after retiring from tennis in 1994. He as soon as admitted to taking part in 250 rounds in a single yr as a way to play “scratch,” off a zero handicap. Lendl tried to qualify for the U.S. Open on 5 events and performed 5 top-class skilled occasions, twice on the European tour and thrice on the Nationwide. Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the previous world No. 1 and two-time singles Grand Slam champion, would request day-session matches on the Australian Open so he might go and play a day’s spherical of golf.
Extra not too long ago, America’s former world No. 7 Mardy Fish competed on the PGA Tour’s 3M Open occasion in 2022 however didn’t make the qualifying lower. Former world No. 1, three-time Grand Slam champion and one-time skilled cricketer Ash Barty considered an expert golf profession after quitting tennis aged 25, whereas Rafael Nadal performed golf all through his profession and was thought of among the best golfers on the boys’s tour earlier than his retirement.
Former world No. 4 Tim Henman has just about utterly traded tennis in for golf since retiring in 2007. “Now, each time I stand on a tennis court docket, I’m considering my elbow hurts and I’d a lot moderately be taking part in golf,” he advised The Telegraph.
Henman, who performs off a +2 handicap like Ruud, cites all the everyday advantages of golf.
“The danger of harm could be very low,” he advised a small group of reporters in January. “It’s fairly a pleasant escape as a result of whenever you’re on the course, you’re simply with some associates and might get away from issues. And clearly, it’s a completely different recreation. It’s a unique sort of problem.
“The talents are fairly transferable and I believe as a result of it’s a stationary ball all of us suppose it needs to be a bit simpler than it really is whenever you’re hitting a transferring ball at 140mph.”
De Minaur, who has described himself as an “Instagram golfer,” stresses how good it may be for his psychological well being. “I adore it. It’s a means for me to disconnect, to calm down, to benefit from the recent air, the greenery and swap off,” he stated in a current interview.
When wanting again on the 2010 U.S. Open win that accomplished his profession Grand Slam, Nadal credited golf for reinforcing his preparation. “By no means had I launched into a US Open marketing campaign feeling brisker,” he wrote in his autobiography. Within the e-book, Nadal additionally says that he doesn’t actually have sporting idols, with one exception: “If there’s one sportsman that I love outdoors the sport of tennis, it’s Tiger Woods.
“When he’s at his finest, I see in him what I want to be myself. I like that successful look he has when he performs and I like most of all his angle, his means of going through as much as the moments of disaster when a recreation is received or misplaced. He may hit a nasty shot and get offended with himself, however the subsequent time he squares as much as hit the ball, he’s again in focus.”
Rafael Nadal, deep in focus on the golf course. (Cristian Trujillo / High quality Sport Photographs through Getty Photographs)
America’s Danielle Collins partly credit golf for her first profession WTA 1,000 title, which she received on the Miami Open in 2024. “I’m somebody that wants numerous psychological stimulation. I really feel prefer it retains my mind sharp, retains me fascinated about various things, retains me from specializing in tennis an excessive amount of,” she stated on the Tennis Channel.
“It additionally makes the tennis extra enjoyable as a result of I’m so unhealthy at golf that after I come out and play tennis, in comparison with my golf recreation, I’m loads higher at tennis. So it makes me really feel loads higher, too.”
Ruud isn’t satisfied that golf has any profit for his essential sport, however it’s a continuing refuge for him on the tennis tour.
“I believe it’s vital to seek out steadiness in life whenever you’re an athlete, to have some private time the place you’re disconnected. For me, the golf course is one in every of my favorite locations to be,” he stated.
Throughout a information convention on the U.S. Open, Alcaraz stated that he and Ruud mentioned these advantages on the course in New York: “You must have your life as nicely… So, for me, golf helps loads, and with Casper, we spoke about it. He’s one other degree in golf. He performs unbelievable.”
Gabby Herzig, the previous captain of the Pomona School varsity ladies’s golf workforce and now a golf employees author for The Athletic, assessed simply how unbelievable Ruud is, together with the opposite greatest golfers in tennis.
“Actually compact, highly effective swing with a pleasant upright follow-through. Appears like he performs a draw (right-to-left ball flight) which is usually a tough shot form for different skilled athletes who choose up golf. Contemplating the movement required to hit a forehand, this is sensible.
“The membership factors a bit of too far to the best of his goal, on the high of his backswing. That may trigger some issues for the trail of his downswing and is likely to be holding him again from decrease scores.”
On Nadal, Herzig stated “there’s a lot occurring” in his swing — not a shock for a participant with maybe probably the most idiosyncratic service routine in tennis.
“The fidgety setup, the place he can’t appear to get snug over the ball is a priority in its personal proper. We’ve obtained numerous swaying on this swing — Nadal principally strikes utterly off the ball in his backswing inflicting it to be extraordinarily tough to switch his weight correctly onto his left facet.
“Apparently, he’s a scratch golfer, however I’m stunned he makes constant contact with that transfer. Possibly his brief recreation saves him, or perhaps he’s simply some of the athletic individuals on the planet.”
Novak Djokovic — Nadal’s nice rival who surpassed his profession whole in Grand Slams — would fall behind the Spaniard on the golf course.
“Djokovic’s swing form of resembles what you’d count on a scratch golfer’s swing to seem like in the event that they switched fingers,” Herzig stated.
“It’s a bit of stiff, a bit of bit too depending on the arms and lacks flexibility. His proper foot seems to be prefer it’s planted to the bottom, even after he strikes the ball. He wants to show onto his toe to get correct rotation by means of the ball.”
.@DjokerNole drives the sixteenth inexperienced 🤯 #AllStarMatch | #RyderCup pic.twitter.com/H5Ozc0U2JU
— Ryder Cup (@rydercup) September 27, 2023
Alcaraz and Sinner, the 2 gamers on the high of the boys’s recreation in the present day, are shut rivals on the court docket with a giant gulf off it. Ruud describes Alcaraz as a “large expertise,” however Herzig recognized some areas for enchancment.
“He will get a ton of velocity in his swing, however he loses a few of his posture as he will get nearer to the highest of the backswing — he stands up taller and his head strikes away from the ball,” she stated.
You’ll usually hear Tiger Woods speaking about protecting your hips again throughout the whole golf swing to keep away from one thing known as “early extension,” which is when your hips transfer towards the ball at influence. I’m positive Alcaraz might repair it in a matter of minutes with correct teaching.”
Sinner? Watch at your personal threat. “Sinner has set himself up for failure even earlier than he hits the ball. He’s standing on this unusual squat-like place, his fingers are means too low at handle and he’s standing dangerously near the ball,” Herzig stated.
Barty, she is extra impressed by — particularly her “tempo” and “good, clean swing.”
World No. 22 Sebastian Korda is one other tennis participant Ruud cites as having {golfing} expertise. His two sisters are skilled golfers, with Nelly Korda, 26, successful 15 LPGA titles together with two majors and presently sitting at No. 1 within the ladies’s world rankings.
In an interview with The Athletic eventually yr’s ATP Tour Finals, Ruud challenged the now golf-obsessed former world No. 1 Andy Murray to a recreation forward of subsequent yr’s Wimbledon. Murray didn’t play golf throughout his tennis profession as a result of it risked hurting his again, however since retirement, he has thrown himself into it. He performed a pro-am occasion at Wentworth in September, and in keeping with a member of his workforce it “fills a little bit of a niche for him.”
“Andy is a tall man and you may see some qualities of a long-limbed golfer in his swing,” Herzig stated. “He type of throws his higher physique on the ball within the downswing in an try and get decrease, making a type of C-curve in his backbone. Among the finest gamers on the earth create the same form once they come into the ball, however Andy seems to be like he’s exaggerating the transfer a bit an excessive amount of.
“This implies some photographs is likely to be too bottom-heavy and others may catch the highest of the ball — ‘fats’ or ‘skinny’ photographs. Apparently, his driver is his finest membership, which aligns with this; he doesn’t have to fret a lot concerning the low level of his swing when the ball is teed up.”
🗣️’I couldn’t really feel my legs and arms!’ 😅@andy_murray was feeling the nerves as he teed off on the PGA Championship 🏌️♂️ pic.twitter.com/mcltARuck8
— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) September 18, 2024
Ruud’s personal sturdy golf recreation is constructed round his drives, which may fly over the 300-yard mark. He advised The Athletic in November that as a lot as it will be a dream to show skilled in golf after retiring from tennis, he doesn’t suppose that’s life like.
He additionally doesn’t play golf if he has a tennis match the subsequent day, believing that it’s an excessive amount of of a bodily and psychological load to placed on himself. Lendl, against this, discovered time to play 9 holes on the day of his 1986 U.S. Open semifinal towards Stefan Edberg, which he received in straight units en path to the title. Alcaraz was so bitten by the golf bug in New York final yr that he was noticed on the Deepdale Golf Membership the day earlier than his shock defeat to Botic van de Zandschulp on the U.S. Open.
On Monday, Ruud posted a message on X expressing his solidarity together with his fellow tennis gamers who can be competing in sweltering situations on the Rio Open, with temperatures reaching 98F (37C). He did so realizing that he as a substitute can be on the golf course in Vallarta earlier than it’s all tennis once more in Acapulco subsequent week.
For a day on Wednesday, Ruud can reside out a few of his {golfing} fantasies.
“I’m prepared for something,” he stated.
— Gabby Herzig contributed evaluation.