Casper Ruud stands up for 'smaller' tennis federations after Davis Cup criticism

Norway's Casper Ruud was not happy when a tennis journalist criticized one of the venues at the ongoing Davis Cup. The 2023 Davis Cup Qualifiers began on Friday (February 3) and is being played across various countries with the finals being held in Malaga, Spain.

Journalist Jose Morgado took to Twitter to call out the venue choice for the clash between the USA and Uzbekistan on Friday, which is being played at Tashkent in Uzbekistan. He reposted a video of Tommy Paul giving the USA a 2-0 lead (posted by the Davis Cup account), and remarked that the small arena was not the venue he expected for a qualifiers tie at such a prestigious tournament.

"Well, this venue is not what I expected for a qualifiers tie"

World No. 4, Casper Ruud was unhappy with the statement and came to the venue's defense. He rightly pointed out that not all countries have big stadiums lying around vacant and in the process, he also threw shade at the International Tennis Federation (ITF) for giving very short notice to "smaller" federations, resulting in usage of smaller venues.

"Not all countries have big stadiums just sitting and waiting all year round, plus it’s not easy to plan and host for a smaller federation when ITF gives you less than 2 months to organize it. Most big stadiums that could be used to play the tie is already booked to something else" Ruud tweeted.

Morgado replied to Ruud explaining his reasons for the tweet, claiming that he expected ITF to have a minimum seat capacity for the qualifiers and that if Uzbekistan were playing the USA, they could have filled all the seats.

"All of this true of genuinely thought that ITF had minimum capacity in terms of seats for a Qualifiers tie. Think they could have filled a much bigger venue receiving the US. But the fact they have to play indoors probably the reason! Also, like to hear/read from you, Casper!"

Casper Ruud not playing Davis Cup Qualfiers for Norway against Serbia

Casper Ruud at the 2022 US Open

Norway is currently participating in the 2023 Davis Cup Qualifiers against Serbia but without its talisman Casper Ruud. Serbia is also without the services of their ace Novak Djokovic, evening things out.

After the first day, Serbia holds a 2-0 lead, with Miomir Kecmanovic beating Andreja Petrovic in straight sets and Laslo Djere beating Viktor Durasovic in a tight-three setter.

Overall, Ruud has a 23-9 win/loss record for his country in the Davis Cup -- 18-4 in singles and 5-5 in doubles.