Is Ruud underrated on hard courts compared to his level on clay?

[lurker2025]

He reached three big finals on hard courts in 2022 and a big semifinal in 2022. He has some slam fourth rounds as well, two titles, two other Atp finals semifinals and other Atp 250 and 500 finals. I think his career on hard courts is better than that of some players who are regarded as good on it like Bublik and Tiafoe or Shapovalov even though he has not had much success at the big events on hard courts since 2022. I do not think there is much difference between his peak on clay and his peak on hard courts, on clay he is more consistent and more reliable to win titles but that is about it. His record against FAA and Rublev on clay is shocking, he has had a lot more success against them on hard courts. Recently he has beaten Vacherot, a masters winner on hard courts on the rise, on hard courts. At his current level (he is a shadow of his former self) I do not see him beating Vacherot on clay.

 

[junior74]

Ruud was pretty good on HC 21/22. He was a lot more aggressive back then.
He won San Diego with really offensive tennis, beating Murray, Sonego, Dimitrov and Norrie. At that point, I had very high hopes for Ruud as a contender on both clay and HC.

 

[lurker2025]

Ruud was pretty good on HC 21/22. He was a lot more aggressive back then.
He won San Diego with really offensive tennis, beating Murray, Sonego, Dimitrov and Norrie. At that point, I had very high hopes for Ruud as a contender on both clay and HC.

He is a lot better on clay but I do not think his peak levels on clay and hard courts are that far apart. He seems to have some bogeyman match-ups on clay that he does not have on hard-courts. He was definitely a top ten player on hard courts and higher in 2021 and 2022

 

[yama]

When I watched the US Open final the other day, I was surprised by how good the match was—it exceeded my expectations.

He may not have been consistent throughout the season, but he’s by no means a bad player.

 

[lurker2025]

When I watched the US Open final the other day, I was surprised by how good the match was—it exceeded my expectations.

He may not have been consistent throughout the season, but he’s by no means a bad player.

Actually in 2022 he was more consistent on hard courts than on clay though he did not win any title on hard courts. But with time he has lost his prowess on hard courts and he is losing his ability on clay. He needs a new coach as soon as possible imo