MADRID – Casper Ruud achieved a historic milestone as the first Norwegian to claim a Masters 1000 title, defeating Jack Draper 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 in the Madrid Open final on Sunday.
Ruud, who was once ranked second in the world, made a comeback from a 5-3 deficit in the first set, clinching the match by converting his only break opportunity at 2-2 in the third set.
The 26-year-old Ruud yelled and thrust both arms into the air after clinching the win on his first match point on the Caja Mágica clay court.
The 15th-ranked Ruud will return to the top 10 thanks to his campaign in Madrid, reaching No. 7 in the rankings on Monday.
With 13 tour titles under his belt, Ruud is the inaugural Norwegian winner of a Masters 1000 trophy since the series began in 1990, per the ATP. This victory marked his third appearance in a Masters final after being defeated by Stefanos Tsitsipas in Monte Carlo in the previous year and by Carlo Alcaraz in Miami in 2022.
Draper won at Indian Wells in March. After his quarterfinal victory in Madrid, he secured a top-five debut in the rankings.
The tournament in Madrid was disrupted early last week because of a major blackout that brought Spain and Portugal to a standstill on Monday, prompting the postponement of 22 matches in total.
Ruud had needed to take a couple of painkillers during his semifinal win over Francisco Cerundolo after feeling a rib ailment during his warmup, but there were no signs of any injury on Sunday.
Draper, who like Ruud had not lost a set on his way to the final, served for the first set at 5-4 but couldn’t finish it. The 23-year-old British player was visibly upset, and kept talking to himself and to his staff for a while during the changeover.
The men’s side of the draw lost most of its top players early. Home-crowd favorite Carlos Alcaraz had to withdraw from the tournament because of an injury, and Novak Djokovic lost to Matteo Arnaldi in his opening match.
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka defeated Coco Gauff in the women’s final on Saturday.
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