Destiny can be a fickle thing. At the first edition of the Mutua Madrid Open without Rafael Nadal, one of the men’s finalists cut his teeth at the Rafa Nadal Academy and the other is the only left-handed player to reach the top five this century, other than the Mallorcan. Months after Nadal’s retirement from tennis, his spirit can still be felt in the Caja Magica.
Sunday’s grand finale at the Mutua Madrid Open will either crown Briton Jack Draper or Norway’s Casper Ruud, two players who, although they were not among the favourites before the event, are more than worthy of a place in the title bout.
The match will be a clash of styles: Draper, who will be the ATP No. 5 come Monday, had only won a handful of matches on clay in his entire career before he touched down in the Caja Magica a couple of weeks ago; Ruud, on the other hand, is one of the best clay players of recent years and no other player has more wins (124), finals (17) or titles (11) on the stuff since the 2020 season. No mean feat.
Despite this huge difference in the two players’ records, Draper is marginally favoured by the bookies. Apart from the fact that Ruud struggled with a niggle in his semifinal against Francisco Cerúndolo, the 23-year-old Englishman has been one of the best players this season – champion of Indian Wells and second in the Race – and he has reached the final in Madrid without dropping a single set.
“Australia was a crucial turning point for me at the beginning of the year. I was injured, not ready to hit the court and play, but having overcome three five-set matches before gave me confidence both physically and mentally to push myself to places I had never been before”, said Draper, whose venture Down Under ended in a withdrawal against Carlos Alcaraz.
“I went from thinking I was weak, unable to stay in the game, to realizing that ‘Wow, I’m actually pretty strong’. I do things in the gym, cycling, or running, I try to push myself to the limit because I know there will be moments like today’s match where it becomes very physical: if I have done all that work before, and I know I have, I feel more than prepared to go wherever I need to go”, added Draper on Friday evening after his semi-final defeat of Lorenzo Musetti.
Born on the same day as Draper – 22 December – but three years earlier, Ruud will be playing his third Masters 1000 final in Madrid after those he lost in Miami in 2022 and Monte Carlo in 2024. “Last year I reached the final in Monte Carlo playing really good tennis before that final and I ended up losing. Now I haven’t played as well as in 2024, and I’m in another final, so the context is a little different”, explained Pedro Clar’s understudy.
“I can’t describe what’s different now to last year. Hopefully this time I can win and it will be third time lucky. I’ll do everything possible to get the title, of course, and I’ll be ready and give my all to achieve it. But if I don’t do it, it’s fine, life goes on and I’ll continue to be the same, in search of a big title in my career but, of course, I would love to get it on Sunday”.
