Casper Ruud explains why missing Barcelona could be the key to Madrid Open success

Casper Ruud began his title defence at the Madrid Open with a convincing win over home favourite Jaume Munar.

Ruud, who picked up his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Madrid last year, cruised past Munar in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1.

The Norwegian will face another Spaniard, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, in the third round. The head-to-head between the two players is even at three wins apiece.

Ruud had been dealing with a leg injury suffered during the Monte-Carlo Masters and skipped Barcelona as a precaution. However, he now says he’s feeling fully fit again.

Casper Ruud shares injury update following Madrid Open win

“I felt good. I mean, I feel 100% again, you know, otherwise I wouldn’t be stepping on the court if I didn’t feel well. Luckily, the small injury that I got in Monaco healed well.”

“It was unfortunate, but I was smart to skip Barcelona and take four or five days completely off.

“Let it heal and also work a lot physically and prevention work and rehab, so after five, six days I felt, you know, quite ready to step back on court.

“I took it easy and then luckily I had two weeks from Monaco to playing my match here, so two weeks can go slow sometimes, but it can also go fast, so I’m happy to be back on court and feeling 100%.”

Ruud explained that the break between Monte Carlo and Madrid gave him time to recover fully.

This season has been challenging for Ruud as he has struggled with form throughout the campaign. He is yet to make a final at a tour-level event this season.

The Norwegian will aim for improvement as he looks ahead to matches at the Italian Open in Rome before heading into Roland-Garros.

Casper Ruud reflects on his meeting with Rafael Nadal

While he was away from competition, Ruud took the opportunity to spend some time at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca, where he also caught up with the 14-time French Open champion.

Looking back on their conversation, Ruud said: “I met him one day when I was there in the academy. At that time, I hadn’t started playing at 100% yet.

“I was just feeling the ball a bit, working on a few things. I had a nice chat with him, I hadn’t seen him for a while.

“So most of all he’s enjoying his time off from tennis, and he’s been on this hamster wheel for 20 years, so it’s time for him to enjoy his time off.

“I don’t want to bother him too much, but it was nice to talk. We talked a bit about everything, you know, golf, tennis, life in general, and it was good to see him again.”

Their most high-profile clash came at Roland Garros in 2022 when Nadal won his 14th French Open title.

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