Madrid Masters 1000: Jack Draper and Casper Ruud reflect on their road to Sunday's final

This Sunday, the decisive match of the Madrid Open will feature Jack Draper and Casper Ruud. While neither player began the tournament as a top favorite, both steadily advanced through the rounds, capitalizing on the early exits of some of the sport’s biggest stars to reach the final day. Now, both players reflected on their journey to the final.

“I feel good,” said Ruud, according to the official ATP Tour website. “To be back in a Masters 1000 final feels great. It’s not every day you get to play for these titles,” he explained, having previously reached the finals in Miami 2022 and Monte-Carlo 2024. “I’ve been in two finals before and lost both, so hopefully there will be another third time is a charm.”

However, the Norwegian made an important clarification. “If you look at this year, I haven’t played as good as I did in 2024, and I’m back in another final, so I’m coming in with a little different scenario here,” he said. “I came into Monte-Carlo final playing a lot of good tennis prior to that final, and I ended up losing.”

With that experience behind him, Casper now approaches this new opportunity with a different mindset. “If I was to win, which of course I hope and I will try my best to do, it will be kind of ironic that I had a much better beginning of 2024 leading up to Monte-Carlo than I’ve had this year,” he explained. “Hopefully I can just win it this time and just think ‘third time lucky.’”

Current World No. 15 Casper Ruud.

Draper reflects on his current form

Draper‘s situation is quite different from Ruud’s. The British player is in the best form of his career and already claimed the Indian Wells Masters 1000 title earlier this year. Now, he has a chance to add another trophy to his resume—along with key ranking points.

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World No. 6 Jack Draper opens up on reaching Madrid Open final against Casper Ruud

Ahead of Sunday’s final, Jack reflected on the path that brought him here and how his game has evolved in recent times. “I think I got to 50 in the world by sort of counter punching and being defensive,” he said, according to the official ATP Tour website.

“Then I was in a bit of a crisis last year, thinking like, ‘Where’s my game going to go, what do I need to change?’ Then I did certain things, and I tried to maybe go the opposite end of the spectrum and try and hit every ball as hard as I can and return up the court and do all these things,” Draper explained. “But it didn’t really work, that experiment.”

Now, the British star has a clearer understanding of his ideal playing style. “What was important was that I learn how to be defensive and do all those things, but also attack when I need to attack. So I think I’ve got the balance a lot better now,” he said. “I’m a big guy, but I’m not just a guy who hits big serves and can hit a big winner, I can do everything on the court, and that’s I think what all the top players are able to do.”

Draper and Ruud have a lot at stake in Madrid

There’s more on the line this Sunday than just the Madrid Open title. For Ruud, it’s a chance to claim the biggest trophy of his career. He has been runner-up in two Masters 1000 events and three Grand Slams but has yet to win one. Regardless of the result, he will return to the ATP top 10 next week—but a win could boost him as high as No. 7.

Thanks to his strong performances, Draper will surpass Novak Djokovic in the rankings and break into the world’s top five for the first time in his career. But that’s not all: if he defeats Ruud in the final, Jack will become the third player born in the 2000s to earn tour-level titles on hard, clay, and grass—joining Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.