The 24-year-old Norwegian tennis player, Casper Ruud, has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory multiple times in his career. Just after returning empty-handed from the Swiss Indoors tournament, Ruud is now gearing up to leave a mark at the Paris Masters. But even before stepping onto the court, the battle had already started between the number 8 and current world number 2 in men’s singles, Carlos Alcaraz.

Ruud has been looking for a place at the season-ending tournament, which will be held in Turin, Italy, from November 12 to 19. With every win at the Paris Masters, he will come closer to the ATP Finals. But there is one barrier in the name of Carlos Alcaraz that might hamper all his wishes. Ruud’s record against the Spaniard hasn’t been good enough. But that didn’t stop him from making a critical remark about the 20-year-old. What did he say?

Fans lash out at Casper Ruud after his remark on the world number 2

World number 8 has already set the stage for the prestigious tournament in the ‘City of Lights‘ after his unique observation of Alcaraz. “Obviously, he plays so aggressive & so great, but, sometimes, it seems like he might beat himself a little. He goes for almost too much, at least in my eyes. I am not going to criticize him any more than this, because he’s a great player. But sometimes when you hit all these crazy shots, it’s kind of tempting to go for an even crazier one. But I think he’s understood that most matches won’t be won by playing crazy shot after crazy shot. It’s more about stability,” he said via Ruud Talk on Eurosport. Fans quickly pounced onto the Norwegian to counter his comment on the Spaniard, here’s what they said on social media. 

One of them pointed out his poor run outside of the ATP 250. He said Ruud has no room for talk with these types of performances on the bigger stages.

While the other drew a similar comparison and slammed him for criticizing a multi-champion like Carlos Alcaraz. He even urged Ruud to play like Carlos. The person felt Alcaraz’s exciting playing style was quite better than Ruud’s boring pusher style of play.

Another one hilariously trolled him by saying the message was right, but the person who sent it was crazy.

One of them even tried to remind him of his record of losses against Alcaraz.

Others criticized Ruud for pointing out the flaws of a two-time Grand Slam winner.

Even though, Casper Ruud had also showered praise on the Spaniard for his competitiveness and hunger to improve, it didn’t catch the attention of the raged fans. The Norwegian even mentioned the difference he saw in Alcaraz regarding his maturity and stronger physicality at their last meeting on October 2 at the China Open.

READ MORE: ATP Paris Masters: Sebastian Korda vs Hubert Hurkacz; Preview, Head-to-Head, and Prediction

Ruud is in the middle of a one-sided battle

Carlos Alcaraz is one of the brightest talents on the court of this generation. He is only 20 years old and has already won the US Open in 2022 and the Wimbledon Championships in 2023. He even reached the number-one spot in the rankings last year. On the other hand, Casper Ruud has won 10 ATP Tour singles titles and finished up as the runners-up at the French Open twice (2022 and 2023) and at the US Open once. Clearly, the Spaniard has an upper hand even in the H2H, with a 4-0 margin over the Norwegian. Their most memorable encounter was at the US Open 2022, where both of them fought for their maiden major title.

The former number one has dominated over the current number 8 every time but never rules out the challenger. He proved his mettle with his consistent performances in the finals of the Grand Slams. Can Ruud make it through to the ATP Finals after his loss at the finals of the same tournament a year ago at the hands of Novak Djokovic?

Watch This Story: Roger Federer’s 9-Year-Old Son’s Reaction Speaks Volume of His Father’s Unfaltering Fame as Rugby World Cup Receives Massive Surprise