Casper Ruud was overwhelmed as Jannik Sinner powered his way into Sunday’s ATP Finals title match.
Jannik Sinner surged to within one win of crowning his exceptional season on Saturday, defeating Casper Ruud 6-1, 6-2 to book his spot in the Finals in Turin for a second straight year.
Buoyed by thunderous support from the home crowd, the Italian delivered an electrifying performance, needing just 70 minutes to dismantle Ruud.
Sinner’s relentless depth, weight of shot, and precision proved overwhelming, extending his dominant record against Ruud to 3-0 overall.
The Norwegian hung in for a bit as Sinner found his range, but soon enough he struggled to counter the Italian’s firepower and caved.
Casper Ruud highlights main difference between Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic
Ruud has faced the best in the game, from Novak Djokovic to Rafael Nadal. However, he has insisted that Sinner brought a unique challenge in their recent clash.
The Norwegian struggled to keep up with Sinner’s blistering pace and unrelenting aggression, which left him little room to find his rhythm.
After the match, Ruud reflected on how Sinner’s style of play differs from Djokovic, highlighting the distinct difficulties of facing each.
While Djokovic’s game is built on precision and long rallies, Sinner’s explosive power and relentless tempo create a completely different type of pressure.
Asked if he could compare the two, Ruud responded: “No, I don’t think so, in my opinion, because they play different tennis. I mean, I think on TV it looks probably similar the way they play. But Jannik hits a faster ball than Novak. He doesn’t let you breathe.
“With Novak you can play rallies. Not going to say easier to play Novak because he’s the best in the history. At least with Novak you can play more rallies and not be terrified of Novak ripping, like, a bomb down the line or cross-court or these things,” he explained.
“I don’t necessarily like to compare players because everyone has their own style. For me, you don’t realize how fast Jannik plays unless you watch him play live and you’re there in the stadium. On the TV, it’s not fair, the speed. I got to practice with him here earlier leading up to the tournament. He also kicked my ass there. In a way I knew what I was facing today,” Ruud admitted, having not played Sinner since 2021.
“Sometimes you feel like players might play even better in practice because they play with no pressure and such things. But today he played really well from the beginning until the end. I mean, I didn’t get a good start so I get stressed and overplay a bit.
“Even the points I played really well, he was there defending well. I ended up doing a stupid mistake at the end. It was all in all just not my day. I’m not going to say I would have won if it was my day. Yeah, I hope I can play Jannik more in the future because it’s a really fun challenge even though today I lost badly.”
Casper Ruud must take pride from his week in Turin
Coming into the ATP Finals, he had only won three of his last 12 matches, many of them against lower-ranked players, and hard courts are far from his favorite surface.
Despite these odds, he rose to the occasion, continuing his trend of performing well at the year-ending championships, where he is a former finalist with an impressive record.
As a late entrant into the event, few expected him to thrive in his group, but he defied expectations by defeating both Carlos Alcaraz and Andrey Rublev, while pushing Alexander Zverev to the brink.
Ruud’s resilience and ability to deliver on the biggest stages remain undeniable.
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