Casper Ruud traded in his tennis racquet for a round shield as the Norwegian channeled his inner Viking in a photoshoot with renowned photographer David Yarrow.
The world No. 4 has long been his country's lone representative in the pro tennis world, putting Ruud at the helm of a wave of transcendent Norwegian sports stars including top footballer Erling Haaland and golfer Viktor Hovland. His journey to the top of men's tennis caught the attention of Yarrow, whose subjects frequently feature sports stars and models, as well as wildlife and landscapes. The Scot recently photographed skier Mikaela Shiffrin in Oslo for his "Sporting Legends" series, before his viewfinder eventually caught up with Ruud.
"Earlier this summer, I had the privilege to work with world renowned photographer and philanthropist David Yarrow while he visited Norway, and here is the result! I am so excited how it turned out and I feel very honored to be a part of his amazing work," Ruud shared on Instagram. "We had such a fun day shooting these photos together and the threatening weather in Norway made the end result even better!"
The photographer was visiting the country ahead of his show in Oslo in late September, and organized the photoshoot in western Norway looking for "the steepest of the fjord´s mountains" to frame the perfect shot. As if the ominous weather didn't set the mood, the shoot also featured a steady stream of extras from a nearby faux Viking Village posing alongside Ruud.
"I thought it would be playful to photograph Casper Ruud as a latter-day Viking raider," Yarrow explains in a blog post. "The Norwegian tennis star has fought his way to number four in the world tennis rankings and in so doing, made his small country of 5.4m people very proud.
"Norwegians are known for their mastery of winter sports-especially skiing-but success at tennis was unexpected, much like the early Viking expeditions to the West." The 25-year-old was also the subject of another Yarrow photograph titled "Break Point", which features Ruud celebrating a point while a grandstand of children-the next generation of Norwegian tennis stars, perhaps?-celebrate with him.
"Casper took to his role with ease," Yarrow added. "He may be a charming man with a warm demeanor, but as we have seen on the tennis court, he is one hell of a fighter."