Key Takeaways
- Casper Ruud defeated Francisco Cerundolo 6-7(4) 6-4 10-8 to secure the first point of the Laver Cup for Team Europe in London.
- Ruud acknowledged battling through early nerves and rust, emphasizing that “it’s never over until it’s over” when playing for his teammates.
- Team Europe vice-captain Tim Henman praised Ruud’s late-match execution, noting that “it emphasizes not always about how you start, it’s how you finish.”
Casper Ruud digs deep to put Team Europe on the board
Team Europe opened their account at the Laver Cup in London as Casper Ruud rallied from a set down to defeat Team World’s Francisco Cerundolo 6-7(4) 6-4 10-8 in the opening match of the competition.
After dropping a tight opening set, the Norwegian found extra motivation in the team format and the support from his bench to turn the contest around. “It was a great start for us,” Ruud said in his post-match press conference. “Obviously every point on the board is important and I knew that even though I was down one set to love, I felt, you know, let’s try to pull this one out for the team and get a point on the board. It’s never over until it’s over.”
Ruud admitted that the dynamic of a deciding 10-point tiebreaker in the third set kept him focused on staying in the match. “Obviously being a match tiebreaker in the third makes you even more maybe willing to really fight to win at least one set to get it into match tie break,” he explained, adding: “I was not pleased at all times with my game but very pleased with the win.”
Overcoming early rust and tactical hurdles
Ruud struggled early to execute his strategy from the baseline, particularly when trying to attack second serves. “I wasn’t finding particularly my return, second serve returns that well,” Ruud reflected. “I had a plan to try to go around and play as many forehands as possible and I wasn’t able to get around the ball exactly how I wanted and I mishit a few and I hit a few long.”
Having lacked recent competitive outings, Ruud felt some early tension on the court. “Somewhat nervy, a little bit rusty maybe. I haven’t really played match at this level in a few weeks. Montreal was the last match I played at a full high level,” he admitted. “The feeling of playing good tennis is fresh. It can come and go fast and hopefully a win like today can show me that even without my perfect tennis I can fight the matches and win against good players.”
He credited the vocal encouragement from his teammates and vice-captain Tim Henman for helping him stay composed. “It helped a lot,” Ruud noted. “I just told myself let’s try to win for the boys and the team and it’s not just about me out there. Give it a good effort and the guys pushed me and helped me and pulled for me.”
Henman praises Ruud’s composure under pressure
Henman, who sat courtside throughout the battle, acknowledged how challenging Cerundolo made life from the baseline. “It was very tough because there were so few opportunities,” Henman remarked. “I also think Cerundolo’s quality of serving made life difficult from the back of the court. They’re hitting so hard, so aggressively, and that’s a reflection why there were no break points in the first set.”
The vice-captain commended Ruud for staying persistent when the momentum seemed difficult to capture. “Felt like he was pushing water uphill because Cerundolo was impressive,” Henman said. “I think it emphasizes not always about how you start, it’s how you finish and I think the way Casper finished it off in the tiebreak was very impressive.”
Speaking on his courtside role, Henman explained that coaching at this level centers on minor tactical adjustments rather than technical fundamentals. “This is where the coaching element, it’s not teaching,” Henman said. “There’s teaching and coaching. Coaching is about strategy. It’s about game plans and trying to help with the individual matchups because you only have to be better than one player. And it was very close today, but Casper was able to be better than Cerundolo and that’s why we got the point.”
Casper Ruud in 2026
At the moment ranked no.17, the Norwegian played his last match on the 25th of September when he beat world no.22 Francisco Cerundolo 6-7(4) 6-4 10-8 in the round robin in the Laver Cup (draw).
This year the Norwegian has managed to achieve a compiled 29-16 win-loss record. Casper Ruud’s best achievement of this season was getting to the semifinal in Rome.
Francisco Cerundolo in 2026
Currently ranked no.22, the Argentine played his last match on the 25th of September when he surrendered to world no.17 Casper Ruud 6-7(4) 6-4 10-8 in the round robin in the Laver Cup (draw).
During this season Francisco achieved a composed 33-19 match record. Francisco conquered 2 titles in 2026 in Buenos Aires and London.
Casper Ruud and Francisco Cerundolo clashed against each other 10 times. The head to head is 5-5.
