Casper Ruud has given his verdict on the controversial use of the underarm serve.
Ruud is hoping to disrupt Jannik Sinner at Roland Garros this year, as he comes into the tournament as one of the most in-form players after reaching the Italian Open final.
Ahead of his first match at the 2026 tournament, Ruud spoke in his pre-tournament press conference where he was asked about a number of different topics.
One of the topics Ruud was asked about was the use of the underarm serve, a shot which some consider to be unsporting.
Casper Ruud says he has ‘no issue’ with opponents hitting an underarm serve
Many players including Nick Kyrgios and Andy Murray have used an underarm serve in their careers, despite the shot dividing opinion.
However, Ruud is not one of those who has an issue with players using the shot, despite admitting that he may be vulnerable to it due to his return position.
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“Well, I mean it’s a total legitimate shot,” answered Ruud. “I see no reason to be angry with it. If you want to do an underarm serve, that’s totally fine.
“When I’m playing, the way I return on clay is quite vulnerable for a good underarm serve, but I’d rather have an underarm serve than someone serve 210 km/h at me, so sure bring it on. I have no issue with the shot.”
This is a similar opinion to that of Madison Keys and Jessica Pegula, who also have no issue with underarm serves.
Casper Ruud explains why he did not withdraw from the Geneva Open
Ruud reached the Italian Open final just a week before Roland Garros, but he still decided to compete at the Geneva Open last week.
When asked about this decision, Ruud explained that he wanted to continue the good feeling he had from Rome.
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The world number 17 then reassured that he was still feeling fit and had no injury concerns ahead of Roland Garros this year.
“Yeah we definitely discussed it [withdrawing from Geneva], especially after reaching the final in Rome when I won the semis,” said Ruud. “Ultimately it came down to the fact that the year has not been as good as I’d hoped, especially in the beginning, and when you’re on a roll, when you have confidence, I think it’s good sometimes to be a little bit greedy.
“That was one reason why I went to Geneva, another reason is that I don’t play anything on grass before Wimbledon so I have three weeks off after Roland Garros to rest, so I want to make the most out of the clay season and [the] most important factor is that I didn’t really play any long matches in Rome.
“I played nothing over an hour and a half all the way to the final, and the final of course there was a risk I played three hours, three hours and a half, and if that was the case then we would probably go to Geneva to withdraw. But that wasn’t the case, so I felt like I had the energy and the motivation to play.
“You know, I had good experiences doing that in the past, little bit different this year as I didn’t have a bye in the first round and had to play kind of straight on four matches in four days, but it’s okay I’m injury free and happy to be here, and I have two days now to be ready for my first round.”
Ruud will begin his campaign for the Roland Garros title against Roman Safiullin on Monday, May 25.
