MUTUA MADRID OPEN

May 2, 2025

Casper Ruud

Press Conference

C. RUUD/F. Cerundolo

6-4, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Casper, great tournament for you, how are you feeling after such a performance today?

CASPER RUUD: Thank you. Yeah, I feel good. Another good win for me against a tough player that I lost to earlier this year, so nice to get the revenge.

To be back in a Masters 1000 final feels great. It's not every day you get to play for these titles. I've been in two finals before and loss both, so hopefully there will be another third time is a charm (laughing).

Q. I think I heard you on court telling the trainer that you were throwing the medicine ball in your warmup and something hurt. Can you tell us a bit, now that it's been an hour and a half after, how are you feeling and how concerned are you?

CASPER RUUD: It feels okay. It's just like rib area, it's kind of sensitive, and when you have pain there it's kind of, can get pretty sharp.

I haven't done any examination other than my physio took a look at it after and cracked my back up, which kind of felt like a relief. Hopefully it's nothing too serious, and we will go back to the hotel and treat it and do everything we can to feel even better.

As the match went on, and I guess pain killers kind of kicked in, it was obviously better towards the end of the match than the beginning, so I guess that's a good sign in a way. I'll do everything we can and I can to feel better for tomorrow. And, of course, on Sunday night, I think, based on the way it felt, that it shouldn't be too much to worry about for Sunday.

Q. I think that today was a record number of break points that you've ever faced in a three-set match, that's what I heard at least. What was your mindset like saving like 15 of 18 break points, and did you realize how many they were while you were playing?

CASPER RUUD: Yeah, I guess first game that I played on my serve I faced three or four. Love-40 down, was able to get it back, luckily, and the last game I served as well.

So I kind of dodged a lot of bullets there, and thankfully with some good serves, and also some good points. There were a couple games there in the beginning of second where really it tested me, and luckily I came through most of them.

I also got broken, I mean, I didn't save all of them, but I saved quite a lot, and there was a good percentage-wise how many that I was able to save. So I can thank, I guess, my serve and my, I don't know, fighting spirit or belief in myself today that I was able to fight off a lot of break points.

I don't remember all of them, but some of them was kind of gutsy play, and others luckily he made some errors. So it was a little mix of both, but it was a very close match. I think statistics showed 75 points won each, so I guess I was just fortunate that I won the right ones.

Q. I know you were upset while you were serving that some of the fans were making, this is quite common in general, I'm just wondering what did you want the umpire to do, what do you think can be better done to handle a situation like that?

CASPER RUUD: Well, ultimately it's a question of kind of the disturbance. I felt that the cheers were for Francisco, which is obviously not illegal, it's just a question of timing of it.

I think personally that if the umpire, like, let's say I redid my routine and I was about to serve again, and he would do it again, like what's the protocol there? Like, how many times is a fan or someone from the crowd kind of allowed to disturb the player before I'm kind of allowed to react back.

I asked the umpire a hypothetical question, you know, If you were to give me a first serve for me complaining, you think he would do it again? Probably not, because he's cheering for Francisco, and if the player he's cheering for is punished with me getting a first serve, I don't think he will, you know, have the guts to scream again or clap again or whatever that is that he's doing to disturb me before my second serve.

So I'm just kind of asking the question, Maybe you should look at maybe, maybe not changing the rules, but applying some more pressure to fans who are there to heckle or disturb.

I understand, and that's really harsh for Francisco, because he hasn't done anything wrong, and I don't want to, you know, be a douche towards him, but the fans that are in favor for him are trying to disturb me. So if they see that that's not working, and I'm actually benefiting from them trying to disturb me, I think they wouldn't do it anymore.

It's a very kind of tricky situation, and I understand that fans are allowed to cheer for whoever they want, but in tennis I feel like there is a somewhat of a kind of unwritten rules of what you do and what you shouldn't do as a spectator. Majority of the fans, they get it right, but when someone is there to disturb a bit too much, I think it crosses a line.

So I just kind of asked the question to the umpire, and when you're in the heat of the moment and you don't feel like you get a clear answer it's easy to kind of get even more frustrated. And I maybe overreacted, but I think it was a valid question.

Q. You said earlier you've been already to two finals in Masters. What have changed, what have changed since Monte-Carlo last year, and do you feel confident for Sunday, because the draw is open with no previous winner here.

CASPER RUUD: Well, I don't know, I mean, if you look at last year, I came into the, I came into Monte-Carlo final playing a lot of good tennis prior to that final, and I ended up losing.

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.

If I was to win, which of course I hope and I will try my best to do, it will be kind of ironic, you know, that I had a much better beginning of 2024, or season in 2024 leading up to Monte-Carlo than I've had this year.

And if I was, it's just kind of, some things are coincidental I think in tennis, and I'm not able to describe what's different now than last year. Hopefully I can just win it this time, and just kind of think that, third time lucky.

I'm going to do everything I have to of course get the title, and be ready and do my best to get a title. But if I don't, that's okay, life goes on, and I will still be the same person and seeking for big title in my career, but of course I would love to get it done on Sunday.