Casper Ruud has revealed that the nasal strip he has been wearing this year was purchased from a “shady webpage”. The Norwegian initially bought the accessory to aid a blocked nose, only to realise it also helped him breathe better when on the tennis court.
Ruud has worn a black nasal strip at the Dallas Open this week. He booked his place in the semi-final after Yoshihito Nishioka retired midway through their quarter-final with the score 7-5 3-2 in Ruud’s favour.
Carlos Alcaraz has also worn a nasal strip in recent years. Ruud says he purchased one after finding that he would often wake up with a blocked nose during the cold months in his homeland. The 26-year-old has subsequently learned that it helps his breathing during matches.
“Yeah, it’s just a kind of interesting little gimmick I bought online, not on eBay, but another kind of interesting, maybe shady webpage,” Ruud said.
“I bought it to try during sleep because when I’m back home in Norway and it’s cold during the winter, I wake up and my nose is blocked in a way. Whatever happens overnight, I’m not sure but I always have to blow my nose a lot in the morning so I thought maybe it can get a little more air in there and see how it works.
“It worked really well actually, I was surprised by how well it works. And I thought, why not try to bring it to practice, it feels like I’m breathing better so just a few percentages extra of oxygen through the nose, that’s what it’s about.
“For me, it works. Maybe it’s a placebo or whatever, but I feel like it works. I’ve been playing quite well with it so why not keep it going.”
Ruud faces Jaume Munar in the Dallas Open semi-final. The world No. 5 recently revealed the area of his game that he needs to improve to finally land a first Grand Slam. He has played in three major finals.
“I just think that I need to challenge myself and kind of dare to go out of my comfort zone and do a few serve and volleys, maybe a return coming in and don’t give the opponent too much comfort,” Ruud told Tennis Channel.
“I want them to be a little more surprised about what comes off my racket and try to hide my shots a little better.
“I think sometimes I’m playing a little bit too obvious with my inside-out forehand instead of changing inside in after one or two I stay on the same shot for three four five shots, so I think that I’m kind of too easy to read and my shots are not like as efficient on the faster low bounce indoor courts as on clay.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk