Casper Ruud had little time to prepare for Mmoh, as he was a late replacement for the Norwegian’s original opponent, Marcos Giron.

But the 26-year-old made short work of his new opponent, and claimed a 6-1, 6-4 victory to continue his quest for a first title of the season.

Casper Ruud analyses his game and says where he needs to improve

Ruud claimed just his third win of the season by beating Mmoh to reach the last eight in Dallas.

The World number five is aiming for just his second hard-court trophy and a first since his triumph in San Diego back in 2021.

Ruud has excelled on clay, but he has been struggling on indoor surfaces throughout his career so far, especially indoors, which made his run to the semi-finals at the ATP Finals in November all the more surprising.

During an interview with Tennis Channel, Ruud was asked about how he can become a better player on indoor hard courts, and he gave a very detailed and honest response.

“I just think that I need to challenge myself and kind of dare to go out of my comfort zone and do a few maybe serve and volleys, maybe a return coming in and don’t give the opponent too much comfort,” he said.

“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.

“I think when playing indoors I concluded that I need to take more chances and just surprise my opponents a little more. If I dare to step out of my comfort zone and do other things I think I have a lot to improve.”

What is Casper Ruud’s indoor hard court record?

Ruud has won 39 indoor hard court matches in his career, and has suffered defeat on 29 occasions, giving him a win percentage of just over 50%.

Ruud improved his record with a win over Mmoh in Dallas and he did so by trying to approach the net more frequently and vary his game.

“The goal was to try to rush and stress him a little and take a few more chances,” Ruud said about his gameplan. “Luckily I played a flawless first set, just two or three unforced errors and a lot of winners.

“When you start off 6-1 it’s hard to keep up that level and he probably raised this level a little bit. There was a little bit of a clumsy break in the beginning but after that it was a lot of good tennis and I kept my cool and served really well.”

Ruud will play Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka for the chance to reach the Dallas Open semi-finals.

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