When he was growing up Ruud divided his time between clay and hard courts, but his game was always better suited to the slower surface
he is now planning to make his comeback on clay. He aborted a planned return on the south American clay-court circuit in February because of a finger ligament problem and then chose to miss Indian Wells and Miami so that he could start his comeback on the surface that brings the best out of him. Between 2017 and 2019 Thiemwas the second best clay-court player in the men’s game behind Nadal, who beat him in two Roland Garros finals but suffered three defeats to the Austrian on clay in that period. How quickly does 28-year-oldThiem think he can get back to where he wants to be? “I would say fairly quickly, but probably not at the first tournament,” he said. “I’ve been out for too long. But when I’m pain- free and when I play some good matches, I think it can be just two or three weeks before I’m in very good shape again.” Thiem acknowledged that the likes of Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev have prospered while he has struggled. “It’s quite impressive what they’ve done through the time when I was out,” said Thiem, who was ranked above the Russian and the German when he won the US Open. “That’s the goal for me: to be back at their level. Before my injury, I was competing with them in the deep stages of Grand Slams and of all the biggest tournaments. That’s a big goal – to get back to that level. It’s going to take a while. It’s not going to happen at my first or second tournament, but I hope that through the year I can be back at their level, at the level I was already - and hopefully even better.” Since the start of 2020 no man has won more tour-level clay-court titles than
Ruud, who is hoping that his record might intimidate some future opponents. “I’ve built a kind of clay-court reputation for myself,” the 23-year-old Norwegian said. “I think you maybe build some respect in your opponents’ minds when you win a lot of matches. When people are facing Nadal on a clay court, many of them already think they have lost before they go out on court because they know how tough it will be. I’d be happy if I could maybe achieve a small percentage of that respect in other players.” When growing up Ruud divided his time between clay and hard courts, but his game was always better suited to the slower surface. “From a young age I played with quite a lot of top spin and I was maybe playing more safe and secure from the baseline and didn’t make too many mistakes,” he said. “I think the clay enabled me to play my game better rather than on a fast hard court. “I feel comfortable and it feels natural for me to be on clay. When I got to 15 or 16 I started working with a Spanish coach in Alicante, where I played on even more clay. He taught me some things, so it was always natural for me to play on clay.” Alcaraz, who at the age of 18 is arguably the most exciting young talent in the men’s game, has already shown that he can be a formidable competitor on hard courts, but clay might be his best surface. He won his first title at Umag last summer on clay and his second on the same surface this February in Rio, where Matteo Berrettini, Fabio Fognini and Diego Schwartzman were his last three victims. Earlier this year the Spaniard became the youngest man to break into the world’s top 20 for 29 years.
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