Madrid Open crowns new champion: Ruud surprises Draper for first Masters 1000 title

Casper Ruud secured the biggest title of his career after overcoming Jack Draper 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 at Madrid Open Final, to take is his first Masters 1000 crown. The Norwegian leaves behind a series of losses in finals of the Tour’s most important tournaments and guarantees a significant climb in the ranking to world No. 7.

The 26-year-old becomes a champion of a tournament of this magnitude for the first time. Previously in his career, he had a 12-12 record in finals, although only 1-8 excluding ATP 250 events. The Norwegian had been defeated in three Grand Slam finals, two Masters finals, and the 2022 ATP Finals.

At the start of the match, Draper took advantage of some issues with Ruud’s first serve to secure an early break in the third game and then, with his imposing serve, moved ahead 3-1. As throughout the tournament, the Brit’s serve yielded good returns, and he managed not to concede opportunities to his opponent. While Draper sought to play to Ruud’s backhand, the Norwegian looked to step around for his forehand to exploit his most effective shot on clay. This was key for Ruud to recover the break when he was down 4-5 and extend his life in the set.

With the score tied at 5-5, the former world No. 2 took control of the match and used the momentum to comfortably hold his serve and secure his second consecutive break, completing a comeback that gave him the first set 7-5. Ruud had a 91% win rate on his first serve but only 17% on his second, against a Draper who capitalized on every comfortable ball he had to go for a winner.

At the start of the second set, the Brit appeared to have slight issues after grabbing his leg following an early exchange, however, it was just a minor scare as he began to regain the rhythm of the match and show great effectiveness with his serve. Draper secured a break around the middle of the set to move ahead 4-3 and then held his serve, coming back from 15-40 down.

The world No. 6 showed courage in the critical moments and ended up securing his second consecutive break – totaling four consecutive games in his favor – to take the second set 6-3. Draper was precise from the baseline, with 11 winners and only 1 unforced error, compared to Ruud’s 14 winners with 7 unforced errors.

Despite Draper being superior at that moment, Ruud showed his experience in these types of situations and was always seen maintaining his composure. With the score at 1-1, one of the most contested games of the match took place, with Draper struggling to hold serve, saving three break points against him and defending his serve after 18 points.

The break came in the 5th game in favor of Ruud, who took advantage of the long exchanges to prevail and generate errors from his opponent. Towards the end of the match, Draper looked much more physically diminished compared to Ruud, who was strong from the baseline, keeping the ball in play even when the world No. 6 took the initiative from inside the court.

There was no room for further discussion, as Ruud was strong on his serve and maintained his composure until the end of the match. Without major problems, he closed out the victory 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, thus achieving the biggest title of his career and will arrive inspired at the Rome Open, back in the high echelons of the ranking as world No. 7.

Ruud will arrive at Roland Garros within the top-8 seeds, a position he has occupied in 14 of the last 15 Grand Slam main draws since the US Open 2021. On the other hand, Draper secured his career-high ranking as world No. 5, so he will also have a privileged seeding at the French Open.