The start to the 2026 season is about far more than tennis for Casper Ruud. The Norwegian is preparing to become a father for the first time in the coming weeks.
Ruud and his wife, Maria, announced her pregnancy in September. They are looking forward to welcoming a daughter shortly.
“It’s really exciting. It's something we've been looking forward to now for half a year, so time is running and it's going to be a new chapter for us,” Ruud told ATPTour.com. “[It will be] a new way of life on Tour and I very much look forward to it, knowing how close I've been with my own family and my father and also my mother.
“I look forward to hopefully becoming a good parent myself. Even though this life requires a lot of time, a lot of energy and a lot of travel and these things, I look forward to trying to be there as much as I can and when I have downtime — time off from the court — I will spend it where I want to go with my future daughter.”
The former No. 2 player in the PIF ATP Rankings has long been a family man, and his father, Christian Ruud, is also his coach. Casper looks forward to his new role and all that comes with it.
“I think teaching her about my lifestyle and what I was taught when I was young. She's free to do whatever she wants, doesn't need to be tennis,” Ruud said. “But of course it will be natural to at least try and see if she can be active in sport. I think sport in general is a great way for kids to be active and kind of have a place where they belong.”
To Ruud, it does not matter if that’s on a tennis court, playing handball or any other sport.
“It's great to have something that you can go to after school and feel like you belong,” Ruud said. “So I think I will definitely hope for her to do some kind of sport, but it doesn't have to be tennis.”
Of course, Ruud is still focused on his tennis. After leading Team Norway at the United Cup and competing in Auckland, the 27-year-old is ready for the Australian Open, where he is the 12th seed.
The only difference is that Ruud’s life will be different after the tournament, and not because of tennis.
“It might be whenever I get home, she'll be there. And I left knowing this,” Ruud said. “I know for a fact that everything goes well, the next time I’ll leave my house, I will have another person at home. She'll be very little and small, but she'll be there, and I hope to bring them or her and my wife, Maria, to the tournaments together and be a happy family travelling around and to the places where it seems reasonable to travel.
“I'm not just doing this for myself anymore, and I have someone extra to play for.”
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