Jack Draper, Britain’s top player, fell short of his first ATP Tour clay-court title, with Casper Ruud narrowly winning a captivating Madrid Open final. The 23-year-old lost 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 in Madrid. Draper started strongly, breaking early in the first set, but Ruud, from Norway, rallied from 5-3 down to take the opening set.
Following an emotional moment in his chair, Draper bounced back to level the match, setting up a decisive final set. However, Ruud, a two-time French Open finalist, broke Draper’s serve at 3-2 and held on to claim his first ATP Masters title.
“This sport is brutal but I will keep trying, I think this loss will make me better,” said Draper. “I thought there was a lot of good stuff but in a couple of key moments I felt like his level maintained and mine maybe just dipped off a little bit. Not quite getting over the line helps fuel my fire a bit more that I need to keep on pushing, I need to keep on improving.”
Facing Ruud was always going to be a tough proposition, though.
The world number 15 is one of the leading clay-courters in the men’s game and showed why in a gritty performance where he needed to be at his best to beat Draper.
Ruud’s success was underpinned by the potency of his first serve, winning 81% of these points, as well as showing he had the physicality to grind out victory.
“There are no holes in Jack’s game,” said Ruud, who will climb back into the top 10 on Monday.
“I think he will become more and more difficult to play on clay. He will be a threat. The sky is the limit for him.”
