Casper Ruud beats Jack Draper to win Madrid Open, his first ATP 1,000 title

New York Times

04-05-2025

After two hours and 28 minutes on the court in the Spanish capital, Casper Ruud smashed a forehand winner up the line to move within one point of the Madrid Open title and let out an extended roar of effort and delight. One point later, another forehand in the same direction cannoned off Jack Draper's racket, and Ruud had his first-ever ATP 1,000 title.
Advertisement
The Norwegian beat Draper 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 to crown a week in which the tennis fire he said he had been missing truly returned, as much as it ever does for one of the coolest players on the ATP Tour. Ruud turned the Madrid Open back into a clay-court tournament just as Draper looked set to win it by disregarding what was under foot entirely, absorbing the British player's barrage of incendiary groundstrokes and spreading him across every corner of the Caja Magica's red dirt.
'Jack had been playing unbelievable all year … I knew if I didn't bring my AA-plus game, I would be whooped around the court,' Ruud said when it was over.
Draper served for the first set at 5-4, but played two two low-energy service games to first give Ruud a lifeline and then to concede the set. Draper fumed at himself during the set break, astounded by his flatness at a crucial time — as he had every right to be after sweeping all before him in previous rounds.
The Brit won most of his matches at the event using intelligently destructive tennis. Madrid's elevation makes it more hospitable to aggression than other clay-court events on the circuit, and Draper used that — and the extra bounce the altitude gives his high-revolution forehand — to keep his opponents on their heels. Ruud, however, was able to minimize Draper's ability to play hard-court tennis on brick dust, except for the latter part of the second set. He picked his patterns, withstanding Draper's attempts to rush his backhand and profiting from attacking the Brit's forehand when he could take the initiative.
Both men escaped tight service games at the top of the third set, before Ruud secured the decisive break for a 4-2 lead. He never looked troubled after that, easing through the last few games until he had his arms aloft in celebration of the biggest title of his career.
Advertisement
The result sees Ruud reenter the top 10, while Draper still achieves a career-high ranking of No. 5 in the world, moving ahead of Novak Djokovic. Next is Rome, with more clay and lower elevation. Don't expect Ruud to change his cruising altitude for anything.