MADRID – Casper Ruud was raised too well. Calm, thoughtful, friendly and humorous, the Norwegian is one of the players most deserving of moving from the ‘finalist’ category to ‘champion’ in a Grand Slam tournament.
He deserves it for his unusually good nature, yes, but also for his game. It was impressive to see him up close last Sunday in the Madrid final: Ruud plays with confidence, his forehand is very powerful and he is not afraid of close combat, as Britain’s Jack Draper found out.
‘I’m particularly happy with the way I played the last game,’ he admitted after beating Draper 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 in two hours and 29 minutes.
That’s right, that final game was a distillation of the best Ruud, with a heavy forehand and the determination to go out and win a very evenly matched final. It was Ruud’s first major title after six consecutive finals in major tournaments: three Grand Slams and three Masters 1000s.
How much of a favourite do you feel going into Roland Garros after this title? asked CLAY. Ruud, who is back in the top five in the world as of Monday, replied with thoughtful Nordic modesty.
‘There are still some really exciting weeks coming up, and I guess a win here shows the other players also that I’m here to try to do well for the rest of the clay season.’
But in another part of his post-final analysis, Ruud pointed out that the upcoming Roland Garros is the ‘most open in a long time,’ both in the men’s and women’s competitions. Carlos Alcaraz is defending his title, but there are several challengers. Among them is Ruud, a two-time finalist in Paris.
‘If you look at my year this year, there’s been one really good tournament, which was Dallas, where I reached a final, and other than that, it’s been earlier losses than I hoped, more losses than I hoped,’ Ruud said. ’But it’s a long season, and I have tried to think about that. It’s like a marathon, not a sprint, kind of like that saying.’
And who better than a marathon runner when it comes to winning Roland Garros?
