It’s not unreasonable to surmise {that a} participant adequate to attain three Grand Slam finals and peak as excessive as World No. 2 would have additionally tasted success at no less than one ATP 500 or Masters 1000 occasion. Anything to the opposite would appear incongruous.
And but that was the scenario Casper Ruud discovered himself in till final week. A former junior World No. 1, the Norwegian was lengthy considered one in every of males’s tennis’ hottest younger prospects — however his lack of titles in the tour’s larger tournaments meant that questions had been starting to be requested about whether or not Ruud was really a ‘top top’ participant.
The wait ends: Ruud had by no means gained an ATP 500 or Masters 1000 occasion till his triumph at the Barcelona Open. | Photo credit score: Getty Images
Answering the doubters
The 25-year-old lastly answered the doubters at the Barcelona Open, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas — per week after dropping to the Greek in the Monte-Carlo Masters closing — to win the 500-level occasion, the largest title of his profession.
Ruud’s straight-set victory additionally earned him his first title of the season, after three runner-up finishes, and his first trophy since Estoril in April 2023.
“Honestly, this has been worth the wait,” Ruud mentioned. “A whole lot of finals that I’ve misplaced have been powerful. Any time you attain a closing, it’s nonetheless an excellent week, so you possibly can’t be too exhausting on your self, however this one has been a very long time coming.
“It means a lot, this is the biggest title of my career, it’s something I’ve chased for a long time already,” he advised Teledeporte. “I’ve never won a 500 before or a 1000. The last six, seven months I’ve taken a few steps in the right direction in my game and I’m glad it’s paying off.”
Tsitsipas had comfortably gained in Monte Carlo, however this time Ruud turned the tables. Asked what he had carried out in a different way, Ruud mentioned, “Just to kind of [bring] it to him a little bit more. In Monte Carlo, I was always on the back foot, too far behind, and he had too much time to control the game.”
The victory tasted even sweeter as a result of it got here on a court docket named after his idol. “I’m super happy to do it here in Barcelona in front of a packed stadium and on Rafa Nadal Court,” he mentioned. “It’s special to me because I looked up to him [Nadal] all my childhood, came here myself as a 13-year-old boy to watch him and the others play here. It’s a great feeling.”
Unclogging a psychological block
At Monte Carlo, Ruud had spoken of his disappointment of not getting it carried out in the larger occasions. “I want to break the barrier and win a big tournament like this,” he mentioned. While he didn’t break that particular barrier in the Principality, he did shatter one other. Until his semifinal in opposition to document 24-time Major winner Novak Djokovic, Ruud had misplaced all 5 of their earlier conferences. Indeed, he held a 0-11 document in opposition to top-three gamers at that time limit.
With the match tied at a set apiece, Ruud had a psychological breakthrough: he relaxed, performed a few of his finest tennis and calmly closed out the victory in opposition to one in every of the hardest gamers to beat in tennis historical past. “Beating a world number one is something I have never done,” Ruud mentioned. “You know how good these guys are under pressure… This is a day I will remember for a long time.”
If the victory over Djokovic was affirmation that Ruud might beat the really elite, the Barcelona triumph proved that he might maintain his nerve with every thing on the line in the larger occasions. Both cases featured a braver, extra proactive type beneath stress — a consequence, he mentioned, of staying in the second.
“Sometimes you play your best tennis when you don’t think too much,” he mentioned. “It just goes into automatic mode. I play my best when I’m cool and don’t think too much about it out there.”
If Ruud can do that extra constantly, it is going to add one other gear to his clean fashionable baseline type. Despite possessing a heavy, highly effective forehand, the 25-year-old can generally be responsible of passive tennis, partaking in backhand cross-court exchanges, as an alternative of trying to pull the set off on his forehand. At an excellent 6’0”, Ruud shouldn’t be going to blow folks off court docket with uncooked energy, however he has sufficient forehand muscle to choose his moments to finish factors.
Overcoming small margins
Given how stable Ruud’s ‘floor’ is — two-time Major winner Carlos Alcaraz as soon as mentioned that “beating Casper means you are playing well [because] it is really tough, big rallies” — the added capacity to shorten factors in the massive moments, when wanted, will increase his ‘ceiling’. With how small the margins in top-flight tennis are, that would show the distinction at the enterprise finish.
“I feel like I’m improving as a player but it’s just the margins are so small at this level these days,” he mentioned. “There’s not just 10 or 20 guys that can play well, it’s 80 or 100 guys.”
Ruud’s psychological sport has benefited from the expertise of overcoming a hunch. After a profitable 2022, throughout which he rose as excessive as No. 2 earlier than ending the 12 months at No. three after reaching the championship match at the ATP Finals, the Norwegian struggled for a lot of 2023.
“It’s not fun at all,” Ruud advised rolandgarros.com. “As tennis gamers we dwell off attempting to win matches, that’s type of every thing we now have. When you lose early you’re like, ‘What’s occurring? Am I worse? Are different gamers significantly better?’
“It’s always like this constant battle to try to win as many matches as possible; you sort of start thinking when you lose more than you would like, what am I doing wrong? It was a season to try to gain experience from competing as a top three or top five member.”
In 2023, Ruud did, nonetheless, have one other glorious run at Roland-Garros, matching his 2022 efficiency by reaching the closing.
“I believed more and more that what happened [in 2022] was not a one-hit wonder,” he mentioned at the time. “This Roland-Garros might have been very important for my career to build my future… hopefully one day I’m going to aim for a Slam title. That’s my biggest goal, my biggest dream. It’s been close, but no cigar, so I’m going to keep working and try to get it one day.”
At house on the filth: With 10 of his 11 profession titles approaching clay, it’s no shock that Ruud is trying ahead to subsequent month’s French Open. | Photo credit score: Getty Images
With 10 of his 11 profession titles approaching clay, Ruud is eyeing subsequent month’s French Open as one other alternative to break the glass ceiling at the Majors. Having been overwhelmed in title rounds by Nadal (2022 Roland-Garros), Alcaraz (2022 US Open) and Djokovic (2023 Roland-Garros), the Norwegian can be hoping his current psychological breakthroughs assist him take the subsequent step.
Ruud is aware of that gamers don’t get categorised in the prime bracket till they win a Grand Slam title. Given the depth in males’s tennis, he gained’t have it straightforward. But the current weeks present that he has begun to imagine he has it in him. At this stage, that may make all the distinction.