OFFICIAL: Ferrer joins Ruud's team

Casper Ruud has confirmed that David Ferrer will join his team for the 2027 season. The Norwegian announced it on Instagram a few hours after losing 6-4, 6-4 to Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinal of the Masters 1000 in Paris:

"Good news travel fast! David Ferrer will be joining the team next year".

Ferrer will start after the Davis Cup Finals in Bologna, from November 24 to 29, his last assignment as Spain captain. On October 15 he announced he was giving up the final year of his contract with the Spanish federation, ending a four-season spell on the bench. Staying in Ruud's team are his father Christian and the Spaniard Pedro Clar, who has worked with the Norwegian since 2018. The full 2027 team has not yet been announced, and manager Tina Solheim Falster told TV 2 that the team will talk on Monday, once back together after Paris.

Ferrer already has coaching experience. In July 2020 he started working with Alexander Zverev, who reached the finals of the US Open and the Paris Masters with him and won two consecutive tournaments in Cologne. In early 2021, after about six months, he left the role, citing pandemic travel and quarantines, his family and his job as director of the Barcelona tournament.

Ruud spoke admiringly of Ferrer four years ago, too. At the 2022 ATP Finals in Turin, when asked to compare himself with the Spaniard, he said:

"David has always been exceptional in my eyes, always had great attitude on court".

Ferrer, 44, was world No. 3 in July 2013 and won 27 ATP titles with a game built on consistency and running from the baseline, the same ground on which Ruud has built his career.