Not long after stepping off court as a 6-3, 7-5 victor against Daniil Medvedev in the Mutua Madrid Open quarter-finals, Casper Ruud took to social media to send a message of support to Iga Swiatek, who had just lost to Coco Gauff.

The Norwegian commented on a video showing Swiatek covering her head with a towel, seemingly collecting herself, during her 6-1, 6-1 loss to Gauff on Thursday.

“Hey @iga_swiatek. Keep your head up Like millions of other people I love watching you play. Not your day today, but you inspire so many and you’ll be back stronger than ever!!” wrote Ruud.

A former world No.2 who is now down to No.15 in the rankings, Ruud had just spent 15 minutes talking to the press about his own mental struggles and how he recently sought help to recover from burnout and recapture “the fire” that had been missing from his game as of late.

It’s understandable that he could relate to Swiatek during her difficult moment, and why he felt the urge to show her kindness and encouragement. “I’ve been kind of feeling not great mentally this year. But I’ve sought help, which has really worked for me, and I’ve been feeling quick response and feeling a lot better, so that’s really helped to have someone to talk to about certain things,” Ruud told reporters at the Caja Magica after notching his first victory in four meetings with Medvedev.

“It’s a tough life in many ways, and a lot of travel days, and it just got to a point where it felt like it was getting too much. But I really sought help, and it’s been working, so I’m happy to feel more joy and feel like I’m in a better place, I guess, and feel like I’m waking up every day with a smile on my face.So I am happy that I was honest with myself and felt like I needed some help, and it’s been paying off quite quickly.”

The 26-year-old Ruud is a three-time Grand Slam finalist. Since the start of 2020, he has led the ATP Tour in clay wins (123), finals (16) and titles (11) and is the first man born in 1990 or later to reach 30 tour-level semi-finals on the red dirt.

He arrived at the Spanish capital keen to shake off his mental woes and is now into his first Masters 1000 semi-final since Monte Carlo last year, without dropping a set through four matches. He knocked out two top-10 seeds in his last two rounds – Medvedev in the quarters and Taylor Fritz in the fourth round – and will now take on Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo for a place in the Madrid final. No one is immune to burnout in an unrelenting sport like tennis and Ruud was happy he was able to identify the problem and worked on fixing it when he did.

“This professional tennis life is sort of like a hamster wheel that just never stops, really, I mean except for six weeks in November, December, where it’s off, of course. But then you’re back straight after New Years, or even this year we started 27th or 28th of December the season starts,” said Ruud.

“So you’re kind of sacrificing certain personal, family time, which sometimes feels tougher than others. It just came down to me feeling like I’m running in this hamster wheel and I’m never kind of getting anywhere, or you’re just stuck in it and I needed to kind of jump out of it a little to review where I was going and how I was feeling.

“I guess I’m back on the hamster wheel, but with a better mentality of that it’s allowed to have mental struggles or tougher days mentally, and tennis is not just about hitting the balls well or being quick around the court, but it’s also a very, very mindful game.”

Ruud and Medvedev hadn’t squared off on court since 2021 but the Norwegian entered their quarter-final acutely aware he had never beaten him before This was their first meeting on clay though, and Ruud knew he could trouble the former world No.1.

“I lost three times and I lost every surface except for clay; indoor hard court, outdoor hard court, and grass. So I was just thinking, please don’t lose also on clay, because you lose on every surface to him,” Ruud admitted. “I just tried to use the conditions to my advantage, and the surface, and approached it like I approach any match, really. I mean, every match lives its own life, there will be one winner, and I was thinking, why can’t it be me this time? I have obviously practiced with Daniil throughout the years, and sometimes he ends up winning, sometimes I end up winning. So I felt like, I’ve beaten him in practice, why not in the match? That’s kind of what I said to myself.

“I just tried to bring my clay game towards his game, which is a more flatter game style and a more flatter shot. So I was thinking that, over time, I hope that my clay court game or my top-spin shots will make it tough for him.”

He did indeed make it tougher on Medvedev, who continues to search for his first title since Rome 2023.

Medvedev was pleased with his level against Ruud, and paid credit to his opponent for “controlling the game” and using the wind and his heavy topspin to his advantage.

The 29-year-old leaves Madrid feeling optimistic, and is confident his title drought will end soon.

“I know how to win titles and it’s about playing great, what I did here this week, I was playing good. The more I work on myself, the more I do exactly what I did here this week, the more I’ll have the chance to get the title,” explained Medvedev.

“You just need to get a tiny bit of confidence back and I’m going to win the title. I don’t want to say when, but I’m going to do it