By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday Might 4, 2025
Dropping large matches, time after time, can take a toll on a participant’s psyche. Credit score Casper Ruud for by no means letting that occur to him.
Previous to Sunday’s triumph in Madrid, the place he received his maiden Masters 1000 title, the Norwegian had misplaced three Grand Slam finals, one other two Masters finals, and an ATP Finals title match, whereas capturing only one set throughout all six.
A caveat: none of them had been choke jobs. Two got here towards Novak Djokovic (on the ATP Finals in 2022 and Roland-Garros in 2023), one towards Rafael Nadal (Roland-Garros in 2022), and one other two towards Carlos Alcaraz (Miami and the US Open in 2022). He’s been in over his head, and actually who wouldn’t have been towards these gamers at these occasions?
What’s most essential is that Ruud has bided his time and continued to develop his sport.
Label him as among the finest clay-courters in tennis, and nobody will argue. His 125-35 report with 12 titles on the floor for the reason that begin of 2020 will strengthen the argument. Label him as a man who cannot win the large one, and no there is a counter argument.
Ruud dropped his demons like clay mud from the only real of a tennis shoe on Sunday, and although he downplayed the significance of the win, it’s certain to provide him juice for the remainder of the clay season, and possibly the remainder of his profession.
This week in Madrid when he acquired one other likelihood to win a giant title he knew it was time to place the pedal to the metallic. He did so in spectacular vogue, pulling away from surging Jack Draper to assert a well-deserved second within the solar. Ruud, 26, is the third Scandinavian man to ever declare a Masters title, and the primary since 2000. He is the primary from Norway to perform the feat.
“This was my seventh large ultimate, in the event you depend all of them,” Ruud mentioned. “So seven is, like, a fortunate quantity, I assume. So it was well worth the wait ultimately. I’ve by no means actually been too shut in any of the finals once I look again. I’ve misplaced the vast majority of them in straight units.”
Ruud referred to as his title “ironic” as a result of the theme of his season till final week has been considered one of underachieving. However he has used his time in Madrid to utterly change the form of his 12 months.
“I nonetheless type of really feel like it’s kind of ironic, as a result of in the event you take a look at my 12 months this 12 months, there’s been one actually good event, which was Dallas, the place I reached a ultimate, and aside from that, it has been earlier losses than I hoped, extra losses than I hoped.
“But it surely’s a protracted season, and I’ve tried to consider that. It is like a marathon, not a dash.”
Ruud hopes he can hold this tempo by way of the remainder of the spring. He plans to play in Rome, Geneva and Roland-Garros, the place he’s a two-time runner up and, abruptly, a high contender.
However first he’ll should course of right now’s triumph.
“Though I received right now, my report in large finals continues to be not good, it is 1-6,” he mentioned. “I have been in lots of unbelievable and unimaginable positions in my profession, and I have been capable of expertise some nice issues and, sadly, have been on the shedding spectrum of a lot of these matches, however that is okay. In some ways, my profession has gone higher than possibly I believed was attainable typically.
“After all I at all times dreamed about profitable tournaments like this or Grand Slams or turning into world No. 1, and I have been pretty shut, however it’s not like I used to be serving for the match anytime or [holding a lead] after which choked and misplaced in a approach. So I’ve simply performed that had been higher than me, and I’ve tried to be taught from that, and I believe that in the future there’ll come one other alternative and possibly I can seize it and, I assume, that was the important thing to the victory right now.”
