In a thrilling final, the Norwegian achieved his greatest success to date against Jack Draper.
Norwegian Casper Ruud celebrated the greatest success of his tennis career to date by winning the ATP Masters title in Madrid. The three-time Grand Slam finalist prevailed in a thrilling final on Sunday against Britain’s Jack Draper after a very tough fight, winning 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, and rejoining the circle of favorites for the French Open in Paris (starting May 25).
“It took a long time to win a title like this. Now it feels great, of course,” said Ruud: ‘Hopefully it will continue like this.’
Ruud, who converted his first match point after 2 hours and 29 minutes, secured his 13th ATP Tour title with only one set lost in the tournament. After a few weaker months, it was his first title of the season. This also sees the 26-year-old return to the top 10 in the world rankings, from which he had dropped out before Madrid.
Despite the defeat, it was also a successful tournament for Draper (23). In the new ATP rankings, he is number five behind Jannik Sinner (Italy), Alexander Zverev (Hamburg), Carlos Alcaraz (Spain) and Taylor Fritz (USA). Zverev was already eliminated in the round of 16 in Madrid. Alcaraz was absent due to injury, and Sinner will only return to action at the tournament in Rome starting on Wednesday after serving a doping ban.
Draper initially had the upper hand against Ruud, who went into the match in poor shape, taking an early break and serving for the set at 5-3. However, Ruud showed nerves of steel to win four games in a row. In the second set, Draper again took the first break to go 4-3 up, but this time he closed out the set.
In the decisive set, Ruud, who had played the semi-final against Zverev’s conqueror Francisco Cerúndolo on painkillers, regained his composure. The Scandinavian turned up the heat once again with a remarkable display of energy and, in a match that was at times of a very high standard, broke the Briton’s serve to take a 3-2 lead – and then finished the job in clinical fashion.
In the women’s competition, world number one Aryna Sabalenka had already secured the title on Saturday. The 26-year-old Belarusian triumphed for the third time in Madrid with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) victory over Coco Gauff (USA).
