Casper Ruud’s surprising game plan to topple Jannik Sinner exposed

Casper Ruud fell just short of claiming the Italian Open title, losing in straight sets to Jannik Sinner.

The Norwegian faced a huge challenge against the world number one and home favourite, with the crowd in Rome celebrating their first men’s champion in half a century.

Sinner won 6-4, 6-4, not only lifting the trophy but also completing the Career Golden Masters – something only Novak Djokovic had achieved before him.

Ruud was quick to compliment Sinner after the match and even hinted at what he’d change if they cross paths again on tour.

Sinner came out on top after a close opening set, though both players struggled to keep their nerves in check at times throughout the contest. Even so, it was Ruud who broke through first and took an early lead in set two.

But from that point forward, it was all one-way traffic as Sinner grew stronger late into the match to close things out. The result saw Sinner extend his unbeaten record over Ruud to four straight wins since losing their first meeting back at Roland Garros two years ago.

Casper Ruud has a plan for his next match with Jannik Sinner

After suffering a 6-0, 6-1 defeat in the quarterfinals of last year’s event, Ruud was asked what had changed in this year’s match and what he might take into a potential meeting at Roland Garros.

He said: “Yeah, definitely was a better match for me this year comparing to last year where I really had no chance.

“I got off to a great start, just kind of what I was hoping for, broke him right away, which is not very typical for Jannik these days.

“A little bit of a different situation than what probably he’s used to. But he stepped up and broke me right back. It was game on.

“Unfortunately I kind of dabbed off a little bit towards the end of the first set and beginning of second. That’s kind of where the match kind of was not decided but where he got off to a lead obviously.

“Winning the first set and break up early in the second, it’s not easy to come back from that. I had one break point in the second set that I didn’t get. He stepped up.

“I think the main difference was that in the second set he really stepped up his serving. I really couldn’t do much in my returning games.

“I was a bit too short. When you are a bit too short or not precise enough against Jannik, he just rips you off the court.

“I know that if I want to have more chance, I need to be more precise with the baseline shots, the rallies that we get into.”

Ruud hopeful of ATP ranking rise

Ruud put up a good fight against Sinner, but the Italian was simply too strong in this form. It’s not easy for anyone to match him right now.

Carlos Alcaraz would normally be one of the players who could give Sinner a run, but he’s been sidelined with a wrist injury and won’t be playing at Roland Garros either.

Even so, Alcaraz is still holding onto the world number two spot. Meanwhile, Ruud has climbed to 25th after his latest showing and spoke about what that means for him.

He commented: “Ranking goes up and down, as we know. At the end of the day it is very important because it gives you better seeding or ranking based on your performance.

“Seeding into the tournaments can be important. Whether you are 13 or 16 or 18 is not the biggest difference in the world.

“But obviously top 10, top 8 in the world is where everyone is aiming to be because that gives you even better seeding, gives you a chance to maybe play the Finals at the end of the year.

“Having done that a few times in my career, that’s the goal for every year. Now this result can be very crucial and important for my season, the future of the year.

“I need to keep focused. It’s a good feeling when you end up getting over 600 points in one week, especially after not being able to defend in Madrid.

“I still feel like there’s more to gain now. I didn’t do well in Roland Garros last year, so I have a few chances coming up.

“If I can stay focused and stay in the right mindset, I think the next months hopefully can be good for me in terms of my ranking that I can continue to climb.”

Sinner will head into Roland Garros with plenty of confidence while Ruud will hope they meet again to show he can close what has become an ever-growing gap between them.

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