It’s not unreasonable to surmise that a player good enough to reach three Grand Slam finals and peak as high as World No. 2 would have also tasted success at at least one ATP 500 or Masters 1000 event. Anything to the contrary would seem incongruous.
And yet that was the situation Casper Ruud found himself in until last week. A former junior World No. 1, the Norwegian was long regarded as one of men’s tennis’ hottest young prospects — but his lack of titles in the tour’s bigger tournaments meant that questions were beginning to be asked about whether Ruud was truly a ‘top top’ player.
The wait ends: Ruud had never won an ATP 500 or Masters 1000 event until his triumph at the Barcelona Open. | Photo credit: Getty Images
Answering the doubters
The 25-year-old finally answered the doubters at the Barcelona Open, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas — a week after losing to the Greek in the Monte-Carlo Masters final — to win the 500-level event, the biggest title of his career.
Ruud’s straight-set victory also 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 said. “A lot of finals that I’ve lost have been tough. Any time you reach a final, it’s nonetheless a good week, so you can’t be too hard on yourself, but this one has been a 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 told 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 won in Monte Carlo, but this time Ruud turned the tables. Asked what he had done differently, Ruud said, “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 because it came on a court 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 said. “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 mental block
At Monte Carlo, Ruud had spoken of his disappointment of not getting it done…