Maybe, it had to be like this. On sand and in the center of Barcelona. “From now on, this court and this tournament will be my favorites,” says good old Casper Ruud, making the effort in Spanish. Hard not to appreciate him: good guy, they say. Affable, polite, respectful of the rival, methodical in daily work and measured in victory. It doesn’t matter that this (7-5 and 6-3, in 1h 29m) is the most important of his career, that it has finally allowed him to get rid of the fact that he was wrinkled in the finals – or that he didn’t know play them—and that he has also beaten a magnificent rival like Stefanos Tsitsipas, who had just beaten him a week ago in the Monte Carlo outcome. “Hopefully we will be in the final in Madrid soon, why not. It would be perfect,” he addresses the Greek, downcast because there are now four times that he has been one step away from victory in the Godó.
But this time, it had to be for Ruud. “Today I had a good awakening, today was the day to win,” he told TVE as soon as the match ended, liberated because until now he had lost the seven relevant finals he had played in: Miami, Roland Garros, US Open and Copa de Masters in 2022, Paris again in 2023 and the recent episode of the Principality. Water in all cases. It had to be, then, Barcelona; on the Rafa Nadal court. And maybe it’s not a coincidence. Ruud, 25 years old, has trained in the Mallorcan academy and despite the fact that his repertoire has grown significantly and he is already a notable fast competitor – as demonstrated by the sequence cited above, despite the defeats – the land It is its natural habitat. So, given the dates, he positions himself. If he recently bowed in Monte Carlo, this time it is the one who makes the move and Tsitsipas, with a resigned gesture, who raises the white flag.
The Greek already overcame a terminal situation in the quarterfinals, against Facundo Díaz Acosta—two match points—and suffered to get rid of Lajovic in the semifinals. Already out of gas due to the continuous wear and tear carried out during the last half month, without respite, he falls back into resolution again. He couldn’t beat Nadal in 2018 and 2021, nor with Carlos Alcaraz last year. And now it is Ruud who poses victorious, but always contained. Takes his nordicism to the letter and, handsome as he is, he celebrates with elegance. Without a doubt, he deserves it. He applauds him and recognizes him from the stands of Barcelona, the city of tennis. “Not even in the victories is he overjoyed, nor do the defeats affect him as much, but we will surely celebrate well,” says the coach who has profiled him for five years, Pedro Clar.
The coach adds that “mental conviction” has been key and that victory can decisively influence his player’s future. The ten titles that Ruud had so far corresponded to the fourth category (250), so the jump can strengthen him for what is coming: Madrid, right now, and then Rome and Roland Garros. “It takes a weight off your shoulders, because there were already a few lost finals and that’s there, in your head. You break the dynamic and on top of that you win against a player of Tsitsipas’s stature, so for him it can be very important. On a mental level it can free him and maybe from now on we can see a better Casper,” the coach, relieved and optimistic, points out in the television broadcast. His boy, who had lost the finals in Los Cabos, Acapulco and Monte Carlo this year, already has a 500.
Earthling race, Ruud. Except for the laurel obtained in San Diego in 2021, all had traces of clay. But this time, in Barcelona, that is, it doesn’t fail. Superior in the delicate section in the first set, he pilots the second with authority—defined, in large part, by his success with the parallel backhand—and closes this Godó without giving up a single set. It would not be advisable to underestimate him. After all, this season no one has more victories than him, 29; not even the effervescent Jannik Sinner (25). And in the background this Sunday Tsitsipas laments, who wants to and still cannot. The Pedralbes neighborhood resists him. First to the scourge of Nadal, then the punishment of Alcaraz and now, the good work of a Norwegian who has been gathering merit for a long time to achieve a greater prize. For now, a 500. And later, he will be seen, but he will surely be there.
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