Inside Christian Ruud's journey alongside son Casper Ruud

ATP Coach Spotlight

'A coach, a father, and a friend': Inside Christian Ruud's journey alongside Casper

Norwegian is subject of May's ATP Coach Spotlight

ATP Tour Christian Ruud has coached his son and former No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Casper, since he was a teenager. By Jerome Coombe

“He said, ‘No, I want you to come back and be my coach.’”

That moment, simple and sincere, marked the beginnings of one of the most impressive coaching partnerships in tennis today. For Christian Ruud, it cut through any uncertainty: His son, Casper Ruud, didn’t want anyone else in his corner.

Their story isn’t just about tactics and training blocks, it's about trust. About how Christian’s experience, restraint, and belief helped shape a boy from Oslo into a global contender.

“I think I was able to prepare Casper better than others, giving him a sense of how it is on Tour,” Christian told ATPTour.com. “I think also when you’ve been a player, you know what worked for you, what exercises or training you think is effective and smart.

“We don’t practise much more than the others, but we maybe practise smarter than the others, more effectively and focusing on the right things. I took some of my experience, with all the different coaches I had, and tried to use that in my coaching career.”

Casper Ruud celebrates with Christian Ruud after claiming the Madrid title this year. Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images.

As a former No. 39 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Christian brought firsthand knowledge of the grind, understanding what it takes to become one of the best players in the world. After his own playing career, he began working in his father’s retail business before gradually returning to tennis at his club in Oslo, where he coached a group of kids, which included Casper.

As his son’s game sharpened, they started working more closely, until eventually Casper went to train with Pedro Rico, a Spanish coach who was based in Alicante. This is perhaps where the then-18-year-old’s clay-court acumen took off, but once Rico had to step away for personal reasons, the path forward became obvious.

“Casper wanted me back as a main coach,” Christian recalls. “Of course, I was happy about that. I asked him if he wanted to look for some other coaches, and he said ‘No, I want you to come back and be my coach’. Since then, it’s been going quite well and it seems like he’s happy with me. We’ve made some good results, and we’re both happy.”

‘Some good results’ is putting it lightly. Casper has soared to a career-high World No. 2, reached three Grand Slam finals and claimed 13 tour-level titles. But to fully appreciate the rise, you must go back to where it started.

Christian had already made history before Casper picked up a racquet. Aside from early-20th-century great Molla Mallory, who won eight Grand Slam titles, Christian was the highest-ranked Norwegian tennis player.

“I felt like I had a pretty good career, getting to No. 39 in the world,” Christian says. “I know how tough it is to be in the Top 10. He’s had the belief from a young age that he can be good, and I think that’s good, because I’m not sure if I had it. No one from Norway did anything before me, so I was just happy to get into the Top 100, then Top 50. Maybe I was happy with that, instead of dream a little bit bigger.

“I think Casper is a kid that has always been dreaming big. I don’t know how he managed to do it, it was very easy for me to think ‘Norway had no tennis players, we can’t become good’. But he never had that mentality or thought in his head. We’re more of a skiing country, but why can’t a kid from Norway become one of the best players in the world?”

Casper has since become one of the best players of his generation. He produced an eye-catching ascent in 2021, when he won three consecutive ATP 250 titles, and followed that up with a remarkable campaign during the following year.

The Norwegian reached two Grand Slam finals at Roland Garros and the US Open, the latter of which doubled as a straight shootout with Carlos Alcaraz for the No. 1 spot. Despite falling short in four sets, Ruud responded with a run to the championship match at the Nitto ATP Finals, signalling his intent to remain among the sport’s elite.

Nine of the 10 ATP Tour titles that Casper had won by the end of the 2022 season were on clay, but his runs in New York and Turin dismissed any doubts over his versatility across other surfaces.

Carlos Alcaraz defeats Casper Ruud in the final of the 2022 US Open. Photo: Elsa/Getty Images.

Casper’s consistency inside the Top 10, which has earned a spot at the prestigious season finale in three of the past four editions, stems from his father’s work ethic and dedication to achieving goals.

“When he cracked into the Top 10 in 2021, he won three tournaments in a row and it was much more than we expected,” says Christian. “At the end of the year, he made the Top 10. Of course, once you get there, you want to stay there, so that’s a big motivation. He really got motivated to be one of the top eight playing in the Nitto ATP Finals.

“He’s been consistent and enjoys being up there. But also, it’s hard work and he knows he has to do things right every day: Eat well, train well, sleep well. In that sense, he’s very professional and he knows what he wants. He’s dedicated to do it.”

The coach-player relationship in tennis is already one of the most intimate in sport. Add in the emotional layer of a parent-child connection, and the balance becomes even more delicate. Yet for Christian and Casper, the boundaries have been clear from the start, rooted in mutual respect and a shared passion for improvement.

“I feel like a coach, a father, and also a friend,” said Christian. “We have a lot of the same interests: We like to play golf and we listen to a little bit of the same music. Of course, we have the father-son relationship, but he also respects that I’m also his coach, and he doesn’t make a fuss about it.

“He’s such an easy tempered guy to work with, and if there is something he doesn’t like, he tells me and I respect his opinions. It hasn’t been a problem.

“I know it’s difficult to be a father and a coach, especially if the father hasn’t done that sport. But he respected me from quite a young age, because he understood that I was a player who knew what I was talking about. In that sense, he was very mature from a young age.”

Christian Ruud and Casper Ruud at the 2024 United Cup. Photo: Brett Hemmings/Getty Images.

That maturity has been a defining trait of Casper’s career on the ATP Tour. In 2022, he became the first player since 2004 other than Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal to win the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award — a testament to his character.

“He’s generally a nice guy and he also looked up to Rafa, who is a big fighter but also a gentleman on the court,” Christian said. “I think he learned from him, and also Roger, who is a very good person, and I think he just wanted to be like them in a way.

“You look at your role models and you try and imitate them a little bit, but you have to have it inside from the heart, and he has that. It’s not an act, he has that inside him, and of course he has learned from some of the previous players, how they act on and off the court.”

While Christian claims not to have had an influence on Casper’s standout sportsmanship, he has played a key part in shaping Casper into one of the sport’s fiercest competitors, and there is only more success to come.

Click here to read article