Casper Ruud sealed a return to the highest 10 of the ATP Rankings as he banished his ‘huge title’ hoodoo with victory in an enthralling Madrid Open closing.
The Norwegian battled previous fifth seed Jack Draper 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 to triumph contained in the Caja Magica, having crucially rallied from 3-5 right down to take the opening set.
Ruud had beforehand by no means received a title above ATP 500 degree, with a string of defeats in ‘huge’ finals throughout his profession.
The Norwegian has misplaced three Grand Slam finals and was runner-up on the 2022 ATP Finals, with Masters closing defeats on the 2022 Miami Open and 2024 Monte Carlo Masters.
Victory on the Madrid Open represents the largest title of his profession, and sees him develop into the third first-time Masters winner of 2025, following Draper (Indian Wells) and Jakub Mensik (Miami).
He additionally continues his string of trailblazing feats for Norwegian tennis, changing into his nation’s first ever Masters 1000 champion.
Ruud began the clay-court swing seemingly with a cushty cushion inside the highest 10, with the Norwegian ranked because the world No 7 forward of the Monte Carlo Masters.
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After dropping in spherical three in Monte Carlo, the place he was defending finalist factors, and tasting defeat within the quarter-final of his Barcelona Open title defence, Ruud discovered himself down at fifteenth within the ATP Rankings.
However, because of a career-best run in Madrid, the 26-year-old is about to leap eight spots up the ATP Rankings – and can return to world No 7 on Monday.
Incomes 1,000 rating factors for his triumph, an enchancment on his 1000 fourth-round factors from 2024, Ruud will soar to three,715 rating factors when the ATP Rankings replace.
That may transfer him forward of present world No 7 Alex de Minaur, who will maintain 3,635 factors on Monday.
With solely second-round factors to defend on the Italian Open, which will get underway this coming week, the Norwegian is now in pole place to seal a top-eight seeding for the French Open.
Being inside the highest eight may show essential to his probabilities of successful a maiden main title; if he’s inside the highest eight, he’ll keep away from a higher-ranked participant till a minimum of the quarter-final in Paris.
The seedings for the French Open might be primarily based on the ATP Rankings as soon as motion is concluded within the Italian capital, with the rankings set to replace post-event on Monday, Might nineteenth.
Ruud was the runner-up at Roland Garros in 2022 and 2023 and in addition reached the semi-final in 2024, falling to Alexander Zverev.
He’s additionally a three-time Italian Open semi-finalist, with the ultimate Masters 1000 occasion of the clay swing underway this coming week.
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