Casper Ruud says : If you haven't played Pro Tennis, you have no clue what you are talking about...

Razer

G.O.A.T.
Q. I was wondering if I could ask you about your Twitter account. I guess it's called X now. I think people think of you being quite serious but your Twitter presence is light and funny and you engage a lot with fans. What do you make of the tennis Twitter community and how you're able to engage with them the way that you do?

CASPER RUUD: Yeah, it's this new, I guess, feed where you can put, like, I don't follow that many people on Twitter or X, but you can get, like, content that is kind of based for you, in a way, based on who you follow and what you have done in the past.

So I read a bunch of these, like, so-called tennis experts and their opinions, and it's just insane. It annoys me in a way, because it's just -- I feel like if you haven't played professional in the past, most of them have no clue what they are talking about.

Their opinions, for fans, if anyone listens to what I'm saying, I would just not take more than maybe 5% of what so-called tennis experts on Twitter say as good info because it's just not the way it goes.

I could probably reply to many other things, but I just leave it, because it's just interesting to see how people just exaggerate all the time on social media about anything. You go from being the best player in the world to the worst player in the history from one week to another, and it shouldn't be taken serious[ly].

But it's new modern world, I guess. Sometimes I like to interact, because, you know, I feel like sometimes my opinion can matter, but it's more I have to be really annoyed to actually take the time to actually reply to someone (smiling).

But, yeah, it's a wicked place to spend too much time, I think. Because also reading about yourself is not really nice always.
I don't know. I take it with a smile, but sometimes I just, yeah, I guess I can't control myself. It's easy to kind of communicate to other fans or haters, if you want to call them that.

It's worth it sometimes, but it can be dangerous to spend too much time there, that's for sure.


 
If any pro tennis players are reading this thread (or forum in general) then please leave and never come back or take all posts with a huge pinch of salt. We will ruin you with our opinions and judgements and if twitter is enough to make Ruud angry (A player who seems quite chill and nice in general) then god help the rest.

"because it's just interesting to see how people just exaggerate all the time on social media about anything. You go from being the best player in the world to the worst player in the history from one week to another"

^ This is so on point though. McEnroe used to be the worst for this, constantly flip-flopping between Fed/Nadal/Djokovic depending on who won the most recent slam and if a former player in a strong position to influence people can change his opinion so easily then the fans who are non-players have no chance.
 
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To be clear, some of them do. The big majority of them, even.

But a lot of great players are terrible analysts for the same reason a lot of great athletes make terrible coaches. Some of them went their whole careers on natural talent with an ability to just flow through the game without even really understanding what they were doing, which is why they struggle to teach it. Likewise there are a lot of great coaches out there that never played at a high level because they were forced to see the game differently.
 
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To be clear, some of them do. The big majority of them, even.

But a lot of great players are terrible analysts for the same reason a lot of great athletes make terrible coaches. Some of them went their whole careers on natural talent with an ability to just flow through the game without even really understanding what they were doing, which is why they struggle to teach it. Likewise there are a lot of great coaches out there that never played at a high level because they were forced to see the game differently.

You think very highly of yourself. Particularly for being just a guy on the couch.
 
Casper has only won 250 events. What a loser.

When you wins Slams, then you get to have an opinion (except Djokovic).
 
I mean he is right. He’s made world #2 and 3 slam finals and everyone acts like he is a mug.

These are the same kinds of people that think they can take a game off a pro if they play well enough. In fact 55% of amateur’s over 55 think they can get a game.

Nobody understands this sport better than actual professionals, end of.
 
hes talking about jon wertheim lol
And Ben Rothenberg, who is even worse than Wertheim.

Actually I think he's talking about the fans who comment on player's individual Twitter accounts. Many of them lecture, give negative opinions on girlfriends/coaches, or give advise on how to alter a serve or strokes. It's hysterical and I do think that's what Casper is talking about. What he said is basically all true and quite level-headed. Consider English is his second language and he's much more interesting and articulate in English than native speakers Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul or Tiafoe. Credit to Casper.
 
I genuinely, unironically understand tennis better than Casper and would beat him h2h in predictions more often than not. Most pros in fact.
 
I don’t question that pros know 1000x more about the game than the layman, but they are just as prone to hyperbole and sweeping generalizations. Many didn’t complete their education or didn’t take it seriously to pursue a pro career. There are many sweeping statements made without the data to back it up. Fans should be just as critical about what the pros say when it comes to matters beyond hitting forehands, backhands, serves, training and competition.
 
Players, coaches, GMs, etc always say this but analytics nerds exposed them in every sport with good stat tracking. Tennis hasn’t got there yet on analytics but inevitably will at some point
 
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Doesn't take an expert to use your eyes to see how bad Ruud is relative to other top pros at the top of the game. Nobody is saying we are better than him. Of course he can destroy any rec player with a frying pan but that won't win him any slams. He is weaponless and has been completely outmatched in every final he's reached. He's also been lucky with favorable draws and a weak era in general to even make those finals.
 
Ruud is of course correct and we already have our own examples right here in this thread of the kind of cluelessness and arrogance based on virtually nothing besides owning a TV he was referencing.
 
Ok, great. Now I just wish he could come back to his usual place on tour (being a clay specialist top 30 who feast on depleted 250s) instead of being a top 10 seed in majors.
 
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