Casper Ruud grew up in Snærøya, a quiet suburb of Oslo, in a country that had never produced a tennis star. His father Christian, a former top-40 pro, put a racquet in his hands early and later became his coach, and as a teenager Casper moved to Rafael Nadal's academy in Mallorca to soak up a clay-court education. It took. He built a game around a forehand hit with heavy, looping topspin, patient rally construction and easy sliding, the toolkit of a player most at home when the court is red and the points run long. Of his 14 career titles, most have come on clay.
For a stretch he carried Norway further than anyone had gone. In 2022 he reached both the Roland Garros and the US Open finals, then returned to the Roland Garros final in 2023, and rose to a career-high world No. 2 that September, the highest ranking any Norwegian has held. Three major finals, and no title from them yet. He beat rivals like Felix Auger Aliassime and Matteo Berrettini along the way, but the last step at a Slam has stayed just out of reach. The clay court remains where his story reads best, and where the next chapter is most likely to be written.
Nine. That is where Arthur Fils now stands, up two places from eleventh and into the top 10 at 22, a career best. He did not play this week; the list moved around him, with Taylor Fritz dropping out of the top 10 as Fils came in.
Ranking taleZero warm-up matches. Carlos Alcaraz confirmed on Thursday that he returns at the US Open, four months after a right wrist injury stopped him in Barcelona, and that he gets there without a single tournament in between. The announcement came as a joint Instagram post with the journalist Fabrizio Romano, carried on Alcaraz's own account and signed off with four words: "Ready to come back." He is the defending champion in New York, where the main draw starts on 30 August.
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