Casper Ruud will make his sixth tournament appearance of the season at the Indian Wells Open.
So far in 2026, the Norwegian has featured at the United Cup, the ASB Classic, the Australian Open, the Delray Beach Open and the Mexican Open.
His best result has been a quarterfinal finish, which he managed in Delray Beach before losing to eventual champion Sebastian Korda.
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Ruud has not had much success in ‘Tennis Paradise’ over the years, with the former world number two tallying several early exits in past campaigns.
This time around, however, he has a bit more hope due to a change the tournament has made.
Casper Ruud previews his run at the Indian Wells Open
“I’ve never had too much success here,” said Ruud in an interview with Tennis TV.
“I always just kind of was, not blaming it on the balls, but I just never felt that comfortable with the balls here.
“But the conditions, yes, they are something I always kind of envisioned to be good for my game. This year, there are new balls. We’re on the Dunlop balls now, and they’ve changed, so I can say that in practice, it has felt better.
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“But, you know, sometimes you don’t do well in practice, and you end up doing well in tournaments. Sometimes you feel like you’re playing great in practice, and then you lose early, so you can never really know.
“But what I do know is that I’ve had some good days of practice, and I feel like the conditions can be good for me, and I hope they can be this year.”
Casper Ruud’s best result at the Indian Wells Open
Ruud enjoyed his best campaign at the Indian Wells Open back in 2024, when he reached the quarterfinals.
That year, Ruud beat Lukas Klein, Arthur Fils and Gael Monfils to advance to the last eight, where he met Tommy Paul.
In front of a home crowd, Paul came back from a set down against Ruud before losing to Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals.
This season, Ruud will start his Indian Wells run against Alexander Shevchenko or Japanese qualifier Sho Shimabukuro.
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