A Ruud Awakening In Madrid
Madrid 2025
Credit: Andy West/ATP Tour
This year’s iteration of the Mutua Madrid Open had plentiful storylines to choose from. The largest takeaway from the past two weeks was the growing parity in the men’s game. For nearly two decades, there were three (four, if you include Scot Andy Murray) that ruled.
That is not the case anymore.
It is no longer a three man show.
You are seeing a growing number of players that can win on any given week, which makes for extremely exciting viewership. Although seeing Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer absolutely dominate men’s tennis for so long was fun in its own way, it could get “boring” at times, knowing that one of those three were more than likely going to come away with the title. Madrid 2025 was very far from boring. The final was predictable yet surprising. On one side of the net, you had perennial clay court contender Casper Ruud, who has made the French Open final twice. The surprise came on the other side of the net, with Jack Draper. Although Draper has had a fantastic season so far, taking the title in Indian Wells, he has yet to have a coming out party on clay. He lost in the first round twice in his two appearances at Roland Garros, and has garnered a 18-12 record on clay in the last three years. Let’s breakdown what happened.
Ruud vs. Draper Recap:
These two players have about as opposite game styles as you will find on the ATP Tour. Ruud, an expert retriever that relies on his movement and heavy groundstrokes to win points, countered by Draper, who leans on offense and taking control of points. Draper also hits the ball quite a bit flatter off the ground than Ruud, especially off the backhand wing. Contrasting styles always makes for better tv, with each player having to employ more tactical awareness and mental acuity in those situations. This match was no different - a chess match, right from the start.
The first set was a back and forth battle, with Ruud taking the set 7-5, after being down a break 4-2, and 5-3. This set showed Ruud’s ability to battle. He was employing a simple, yet effective tactic, of picking on Draper’s flat backhand with heavy and penetrating groundstrokes. With Draper being a lefty, it opened up an opportunity for Ruud to go forehand to backhand, which worked very well for the Norwegian. Critics of Ruud like to call him a “pusher”, someone who sits back and does not add a ton of pace in rallies. This could not be further from the truth. Ruud himself called out these critics, stating in an interview this week, “I’ll gladly challenge anyone who calls me a pusher”. He is bang on. The amount of topspin he employs makes it so difficult to defend his groundstrokes, especially for someone who hits so flat, like Draper on the backhand side.
Did we forget about Draper? Of course not, how could you? As Stephen Boughton pointed out this week, Draper might be the world’s best player right now. He would not go away in this match without a fight, and was playing very well. He is the best ball striker in the world right now. Even though clay is not his strong suit, when you strike a tennis ball as well as he has this year off the baseline, the surface almost becomes irrelevant. In the second set, he stormed back and took the set 6-3, breaking at 3-3, and 5-3. Draper started to take control of more points by hugging the baseline and taking the ball earlier, a smart change in tactics. With four breaks in two sets, one would think he would have this match wrapped up and tied with a bow at this point. Alas, on to a third we go.
The key moment in this tight third set came at 2-2. With Draper up 30-0 in the game, he made two wild forehand errors in a row, one coming off balance from the deuce side and one from the middle of the court. Errors be damned, he cracked another huge forehand down break point, and made it. He still ended up being broken, showing how important those two earlier errors were. Tennis is a sport of small moments. In a long, grinding three set match, it is easy to let all of the points meld together, not deciphering one from another. These two errors at 2-2 proved costly for Draper, as Ruud went on to back up the break, and took the final set 6-4, claiming his maiden Masters 1000 title. This match was an excellent battle between two contrasting players. Even though Ruud ended up taking this match, this is a massive win for Draper this week. He showed he is not one to be taken lightly on clay. However, I believe that Ruud is going to win the French Open. I made that pick at the start of the season, and I am going to stick with it.
ATP Highlights From Madrid:
Miami Open Champion Jakob Mensik recorded his fifth straight victory over a top 20 player this week, taking out American Ben Shelton 6-1, 6-4 in the round of 32, before bowing out to Francisco Cerundolo in the quarters.
Canadian Gabriel Diallo had his coming out party this week, making a run to the quarter finals of a Masters 1000 for the first time, taking out serial contender Grigor Dimitrov on the way.
Matteo Arnaldi had a fantastic week in Madrid, winning against Novak Djokovic in the round of 64 on his way to the quarterfinals, before being stopped in his tracks by finalist Jack Draper.
WTA Highlights From Madrid:
Aryna Sabalenka continued her dominant 2025 campaign, taking the Madrid Open title to cap off her second WTA 1000 title of the year, to go along with her runner-up trophies at the Australian Open and Indian Wells.
Coco Goff stunned the tennis world when she dismantled Iga Swiatek 6-1, 6-1 in the semifinals, before losing to Sabalenka in the finals. Madrid 2025 was still a fantastic tournament for the American.
Moyuka Uchjima (WTA #56), had an amazing run in Madrid, taking out Ons Jabeur, Jessica Pegula, and Ekaterina Alexandrova on her way to the quarterfinals.
Canadian Corner:
Felix Auger-Aliassime had a tough run this week. He lost to qualifier Juan Manuel Cerundolo in his first match in Madrid, before playing a qualifier in Estoril, Portugal, where he also lost his first match.
After receiving a bye in the first round, and then taking out veteran Kei Nishikori, Denis Shapovalov lost to Australian Alex de Minaur in the third round.
Canadians Leylah Annie Fernandez and Bianca Andreescu both lost in the round of 64 this week in Madrid.
ATP Rankings Update:
Big Movers:
Canadian Gabriel Diallo was the biggest mover this week, taking a 24 spot leap to number 54, following his quarterfinal finish in Madrid.
After taking the title in Madrid, Casper Ruud is up 8 spots to world number 7.
Following his run to the quarterfinals this week, Italian Matteo Arnaldi jumps up 7 spots to world number 37.
WTA Rankings Update:
Big Movers:
After her incredible run to the quarterfinals this week, Moyuka Uchijima jumps to world number 47, up 9 spots.
Martya Kostyuk of Ukraine moves up 9 spot to world number 27.
After taking the title at a 125K event in France, Naomi Osaka moved up 7 spots to world number 48.
