While temperatures in Mexico soar during the tennis tournaments in South America, Casper Ruud isn’t backing down. The No. 5 ATP player, fresh off a tough loss to Denis Shapovalov in the Dallas Open finals, is back on the court for an exhibition tournament in Guadalajara. He’s made quite an impression, reaching the semifinals after defeating Richard Gasquet in a thrilling match. However, an unexpected upset in his semifinal match left Patrick Mouratoglou on the fence about the “Ice Man”!

Day 2 of the UTS Guadalajara was intense! Casper Ruud secured a semi-final spot by sweeping Gasquet 3-0 at the Centro Panamericano de Tenis. Ruud won in three straight quarters: 17-11, 13-12, 17-141. The last two quarters were decided by a single point. Gasquet faltered, losing his lead due to a netted forehand and a fault. Ruud then advanced to the semi-finals to face David Goffin. Unfortunately for Ruud, Goffin defeated him 11-15, 18-12, 7-21, 17-13, 2-1.

On another note, Mouratoglou, co-founder of Tennis Majors, is optimistic about his brainchild, the UTS Tour. He shared his thoughts on Ruud with Tennis Majors on Tuesday: “I think Casper has the perfect game to win UTS, to be a great UTS player, plus I think he likes it. But even though he played a lot, I don’t feel he’s relaxed, loose, and really going for it. The fact that the game is fast and that he doesn’t have time rushes him a little bit; I think it affects him.”

Mouratoglou might be onto something here. Even with the Guadalajara sun beating down, and causing some early jitters and errors from both players, Ruud found his groove as a UTS veteran competing for the fifth time in this tournament. After a shaky start, he crushed the third quarter with a score of 21-7. “I didn’t feel very good. From 6-6, 7-7, I began to hit it better,” he admitted.

Mouratoglou clearly has high hopes for Casper despite him not yet hitting his peak at UTS. He believes in Ruud’s fighting spirit: “I know how great tennis he can play and I haven’t seen him play his best tennis yet at UTS. But he’s a fighter; he doesn’t give up. He’s gonna keep going until he wins and I’m sure he will.”

Though a UTS title has eluded him so far, Ruud consistently reaches the later stages of the competition. He has reached the UTS London Grand Final 2023 and UTS Oslo 2024, showcasing his competitive edge. Additionally, he made it to the quarter-finals at UTS New York 2024. As Patrick put it: “Yeah, I think he really wants to win one and here he had so much crowd support. I think he put too much pressure on himself.”

In the meantime, Ruud has been making changes to his game that might be making a noticeable difference on the court—not just with his technique but also with some assistance from a nasal strip sitting atop his nose during matches!

Ruud explains his reason for playing with a nasal strip

First seen during his matches at the Dallas Open, Casper Ruud appeared to be making a comeback from his early exit at the 2025 Australian Open, reaching the finals against Shapovalov. Many speculated that his choice to wear a nasal strip was inspired by Carlos Alcaraz, who first donned a pink one at the 2024 ATP Finals in Turin and continued using the strip at the Rotterdam Open, explaining, “I’m not feeling 100% well yet. I caught a cold when I was at home, but I’m feeling better every day. It [nose strip] doesn’t fasten things [recovery]; it’s for my health.”

So, what’s Ruud’s reason for the nasal strip? It turns out it wasn’t for a cold! “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.”

Ruud continued, revealing that it wasn’t just for sleep: “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.” While his finals match at the Dallas Open didn’t go his way, and he hasn’t won a title since the 2024 Geneva Open in May, who’s to say “The Ice Man” won’t rise to the occasion and clinch his first title of the 2025 season soon?