Casper Ruud (23) doesn’t mind if Holger Rune (19) becomes his opponent in the Båstad final. The Norwegian said that the two had broken up. At the same time, the temperamental Danish now gets a mental coach.

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However, the draw prevented the two from meeting until the final of the traditional Swedish tournament, which Ruud won in 2021 and which this year will be broadcast on VG+ Sport.

In early June, Casper Ruud and Holger Rune met in a dramatic quarter-final at the French Open. It ended with Norway’s win against a fierce Denmark. The Norwegian tennis player was not happy with the Dane’s behavior before and after the match. Later, the Norwegian was accused by Rune of levitating and shouting “yes” in his face in the locker room after the game.

This was rejected by Ruud and his supporters.

Ruud, among other things, was dissatisfied with his response as he should have thanked Rune for the match. Check out the clip below.

– How do you feel about meeting Holger Rune again?

– I took it for granted. I’ve looked at the scoreboard and we’re not on the same page. But if these two make it to the final, it will be a fun final. We have spoken and put everything behind us. Life goes on, Casper Ruud told VG.

– So you contacted each other?

– Yes, but I won’t say anything more about this if you ask, said Ruud firmly.

Prior to the Wimbledon tournament, Ruud told VG that they don’t have time to cut it after the fight in France.

On Sunday, the Danish news agency Ritzau reported, reproduced by NTB, that the Danish tennis talent has acquired a mental coach and is starting a collaboration with BS Christiansen.

– I am very pleased to announce that I have joined the mental coach BS Christiansen. He is very experienced and successful in tackling the mental aspects of elite sport, says Holger Rune.

First seed

In the ATP 250 tournament in Båstad, Ruud was seeded as number one and Rune as number eight. Casper Ruud thus won the tournament last year, but may face much tougher opposition on the gravel in Sweden this year.

Ruud chose not to participate in the Tokyo Olympics last summer to play in clay tournaments in Båstad, Gstaad and Kitzbühel. There he won three tournament wins in a row before entering the hardcourt season.

Now the Norwegian will try to defend his title and ranking points. In Båstad, the likes of Andrej Rubljov, Stan Wawrinka, Dominic Thiem, Olympic silver winner Pablo Carreño Busta and thus the Holger Rune stand. As the first seed, Ruud got a “bye” in the first round.

– I have my doubts

– There will be plenty to defend them next week. I will do the best. It’s not often that you win three out of three. “I doubt it will happen again,” said Casper Ruud.

– Now I especially want to start well in Bstad, then we’ll see what happens after that. I can’t think of what I should keep or not. I noticed that it went up and down a bit. But I have far more ranking points than I currently have last year, so it’s not that important to maintain rankings. But of course I want to win some tournaments before we go to the USA and hardcourt in August.

PS! Although Novak Djokovic won Wimbledon on Sunday, this year’s tournament did not award ATP points as Russian and Belarusian players were banned. This means Casper Ruud is two places in front of Djokovic on updating the rankings on Monday morning.