Casper Ruud has worn a nasal strip at the Dallas Open (Image: Getty)
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.
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.
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“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.
Casper Ruud is into the semi-final at the Dallas Open (Image: Getty)
“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.”