Casper Ruud has fallen just short of a memorable Italian Open title after losing the final to Jannik Sinner.
Ruud was taking on the world number one and the home favorite in Rome, where the fans were overjoyed to see the first men’s Italian champion for 50 years.
Sinner battled past Ruud 6-4, 6-4 in their Italian Open final, helping the superstar complete the Career Golden Masters.
Novak Djokovic represents the only other player to have won all nine ATP Masters titles, which Sinner has now done in 62 fewer main draw appearances than the Serbian.
Ruud was full of praise for the champion following their final in Rome, where he suggested what he’ll do if they meet again on the court.
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The Norwegian was asked what he got right compared to his 6-0, 6-1 loss in the quarterfinals of the 2025 event, and what he can take into a potential match at Roland Garros.
“Yeah, definitely was a better match for me this year comparing to last year where I really had no chance,” he said.
“I got off to a great start, just kind of what I was hoping for, broke him right away, which is not very typical for Jannik these days.
“A little bit of a different situation than what probably he’s used to. But he stepped up and broke me right back. It was game on.
“Unfortunately I kind of dabbed off a little bit towards the end of the first set and beginning of second. That’s kind of where the match kind of was not decided but where he got off to a lead obviously.
“Winning the first set and break up early in the second, it’s not easy to come back from that. I had one break point in the second set that I didn’t get. He stepped up.
“I think the main difference was that in the second set he really stepped up his serving. I really couldn’t do much in my returning games.
“I was a bit too short. When you are a bit too short or not precise enough against Jannik, he just rips you off the court.
“I know that if I want to have more chance, I need to be more precise with the baseline shots, the rallies that we get into.”
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Ruud certainly put up an admirable fight against Sinner, but it’s clear that nobody is capable of challenging him in such scintillating form.
Carlos Alcaraz was, of course, one such player, but the Spaniard has been unable to compete because of a wrist injury, which is also ruling him out of Roland Garros.
Alcaraz remains second in the ATP rankings despite his absence, with Ruud now discussing his ranking of 25th following his latest efforts on the court.
He commented: “Ranking goes up and down, as we know. At the end of the day it is very important because it gives you better seeding or ranking based on your performance.
“Seeding into the tournaments can be important. Whether you are 13 or 16 or 18 is not the biggest difference in the world.
“But obviously top 10, top 8 in the world is where everyone is aiming to be because that gives you even better seeding, gives you a chance to maybe play the Finals at the end of the year.
“Having done that a few times in my career, that’s the goal for every year. Now this result can be very crucial and important for my season, the future of the year.
“I need to keep focused. It’s a good feeling when you end up getting over 600 points in one week, especially after not being able to defend in Madrid.
“I still feel like there’s more to gain now. I didn’t do well in Roland Garros last year, so I have a few chances coming up.
“If I can stay focused and stay in the right mindset, I think the next months hopefully can be good for me in terms of my ranking that I can continue to climb.”
Sinner now turns his attention to Roland Garros, where he could meet Ruud again and further improve upon his 5-0 record against the Norwegian.
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