05/04/25 03:42:00
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05/04 15:41 CDT Ruud beats Draper in Madrid Open final to win his first Masters
1000 title
Ruud beats Draper in Madrid Open final to win his first Masters 1000 title
By TALES AZZONI
AP Sports Writer
MADRID (AP) --- Casper Ruud became the first Norwegian to win a Masters 1000
title after beating Jack Draper 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 in the Madrid Open final on
Sunday.
The former second-ranked Ruud rallied from 5-3 down in the first set and sealed
the victory after capitalizing on his lone break at 2-2 in the third.
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 Mgica 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.
The 13-time tour champion is the first Norwegian to lift a Masters 1000 trophy
since the series was introduced in 1990, according to the ATP. It was Ruud's
third such final after losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas in Monte Carlo last year
and to 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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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
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