MUTUA MADRID OPEN

April 30, 2026

Casper Ruud

Mixed Zone

A. BLOCKX/C. Ruud

6-4, 6-4

Q. (Question off microphone.)

CASPER RUUD: I found it depressing this game, because he didn't have really any weaknesses.

Q. In general, how do you sum up your tournament here in Madrid?

CASPER RUUD: I'm happy with some good matches here in Madrid. I was coming here the first couple days and practiced, not really knowing if my calf would hold up, because I had some issues with it in Monte Carlo. I was just happy to be able to compete. I got a great start to the tournament with some good matches and good wins.

The quarterfinal is not a bad result. You hope to do one more and one more. All in all, not horrible, and I'll continue to build, and I have a good couple of weeks coming up in Rome and of course Paris coming later.

Q. Did you see much of the match of Rafa Jodar against Sinner?

CASPER RUUD: I didn't see much of the match. But all in all he's a fantastic player already. He's so young and he has a lot of energy. He has very good charisma. He seemed like a very nice guy. I talk with him every now and then. I never played with him or practiced. But very, very, what you see from outside, looks like a very nice kid. He will be tough player for many years to come.

Q. Are you looking forward to playing him?

CASPER RUUD: Yes, of course. I mean, you enjoy all challenges that you will face in your career. Jodar is a nice kid, but he will be a challenging player to play for many years, there's no hiding that. He will definitely keep many players on their toes, and this is just the beginning for him. So if this is where he starts, then there is no limit for how far he can go.

Q. What sort of challenges did he bring, and did you do any scouting of him beforehand? I just ask because Jannik had mentioned that he had gone to see Jodar play, and stayed up late watching him play Fonseca. I'm curious, as Blockx was making his way through the draw were you paying attention and thinking, all right, I might have to play this guy?

CASPER RUUD: I tried my best to do some analyzation. Not like live in the moment when he was playing, but I rewatched a lot of his matches here, and a lot of highlights to see his highest level. Of course, we get scouting reports as well. We do everything we can.

Ultimately, when you're out there, you can scout all you want, but you have to hit the shots that you want to hit. Today I think I was a little bit too loose with my forehand. I went for some bigger shots and winners that sailed a bit long or sailed a bit wide. I think ultimately that gave him, maybe not the win, but I didn't get the best start. He got an early break, building confidence probably in his game.

Yeah, I think I was impressed because, like I said also before, didn't really find any big weakness or hole in his game. And when you don't do that, it's easier to kind of over hit and feel like you don't get anything out of your own shots. So credits to him for being, obviously, very good serve, yes, but also very solid and playing well from the baseline.

Q. Is there anything specifically you learned about him today that you maybe didn't know?

CASPER RUUD: To be such a tall and big guy physically, I was a bit surprised that he stands quite far back in the court. Which is like kind of untypical for somebody who has such a big serve. It's more kind of typical to go big with the shots.

He was kind of holding off more than I maybe thought every now and then. But that's also the secret to success, and definitely it was today and has been this week.

The climb, the rapid climb he has had to the top 100, and I think after this week he will probably be top 50 or even start smelling at top 40, top 30 in the world.

I think he plays a really good and solid baseline game. He backs up his serving great. He can do very many things from baseline. Offensive, yes, he can come to the net; but also defending and moving well. I thought he read the game as well. I was really impressed with not just his serve but also the general baseline game that he had.

Q. You mentioned standing far back. I imagine a lot of the courts he's been playing on he doesn't have as much space back there. Is that an adjustment that you and other players make as you go from court to court? Especially, like I'm thinking of, like you played on Philippe-Chatrier a lot, absolutely massive court, and using that space.

CASPER RUUD: For sure. There are players that don't necessarily go as far back as I do, or other players choose to do. But when I'm returning in particular I try to stay as deep as possible almost, to give myself more time to swing more fully.

It obviously exposes the serve and volley play or the serves out wide a little bit more, but I'm willing to take that sacrifice in order to feel like I can swing more at the returns. Especially on clay that's the preferred return style that I like. Blockx is doing much of the same.

In my game I don't do much serve and volley, so when you have a guy who is returning well and solid, you get a lot of baseline points. After returning deep and heavy, he was playing really well from the baseline.

So, I mean, yeah, like you said, here on Court 4, Court 8 or 7 or 6, you don't have that long behind. That's where he started playing his first matches in the tournament, and now he probably feels like he has all the space in the world on center court, and that's obviously a good feeling. As his career progresses he will have more and more matches on these big courts, and that could just only benefit his game.

Q. Can you use it during the rallies as well in some ways?

CASPER RUUD: Sure. I mean, sometimes you can reach shots on the stretch or on the run that maybe on other courts you wouldn't be able to reach. So I like the idea of having a huge court because it gives more room of playing and defending and kind of hustling around.

So, you know, playing matches on Courts 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, I don't think is great for the game, and I try my best to avoid playing there if I can in this tournament. The last couple of years it's gone well for me, so I get to play on the big courts. But you can always argue, especially on clay, if the courts are big enough in some tournaments.

Q. You will go to Rome in between now?

CASPER RUUD: Not today I will not. I have a few days off and then I will go to Rome.