Ruud Comments on Sinner's Masters 1000 Dominance
Casper Ruud expressed confidence that Jannik Sinner, the current world No. 1, is beatable despite his impressive form as he seeks a record sixth consecutive Masters 1000 title on home soil at the Italian Open.
“His results this year kind of speak for themselves,” said Ruud. “Four Masters 1000s in a row to begin the year. Four of four. He’s already made history, he can make more history. But he also showed in the beginning of the year, he’s beatable. Novak [Djokovic] beat him. [Jakub] Mensik beat him.
“But when he’s on, not many can touch him. I would say that when both him and Carlos [Alcaraz] are on their highest level, they’re kind of unreachable for the rest at the moment. It’s a reason why they have won the last [nine] slams, these two guys.”
Despite having played only one match so far, a straightforward victory over Sebastian Ofner in straight sets during his second-round match on Saturday night, Sinner’s chances appear even stronger due to the early exits of several other top contenders. The initial days in Rome have been challenging for the highest-ranked challengers, with Novak Djokovic, Félix Auger-Aliassime, Ben Shelton, and Alex de Minaur—ranked No. 3 to No. 6—losing in their opening matches. On Saturday, the 15th seed Arthur Fils, one of the tournament’s most in-form players, retired early in his first match due to a hip injury. Jakub Mensik, the last player to defeat Sinner, was eliminated decisively in his second-round match.
Ruud, seeded 23rd, has also faced difficulties recently and is competing outside the top 20 for the first time since 2021, a consequence of not defending his Madrid Open title. However, he advanced to the fourth round on Sunday with a strong 6-3, 6-4 victory over the 11th seed, Jiri Lehecka.
Ruud was succeeded as Madrid champion by Sinner, whose record-breaking streak of Masters 1000 titles has sparked discussions about the possibility of the Italian player achieving unprecedented feats, such as holding all nine Masters 1000 titles simultaneously. At 24 years old, Sinner is now more than halfway towards this milestone.
Ruud believes it would be impossible for Sinner or any other player to hold all nine Masters 1000 titles at once, mainly due to the tennis calendar.
“After Wimbledon, if you make the finals of Wimbledon, to be ready in Toronto or Montreal is pretty much impossible,” he explained. “You just played the final or won the biggest title maybe there is in tennis and then 10 days later, you have to be fit to leave for North America. So I think we’ve seen already a couple of times that whoever does well in Wimbledon, they tend to skip Montreal or Toronto. And I think that will probably continue to happen, unfortunately, for the tournament with the schedule that we have.”
Other Italian Open Highlights
Ruud was joined in the fourth round by Lorenzo Musetti, the eighth seed and Italy’s No. 2 player, who secured an emotional 7-6 (7), 6-4 victory over the 25th seed Francisco Cerúndolo.
On the women’s side, Naomi Osaka continued to build momentum by delivering her best win of the year, dismantling the 19th seed Diana Shnaider 6-1, 6-2 to reach the fourth round.
Leading seeds faced little resistance, with Jessica Pegula dominating Rebeka Masarova 6-0, 6-0, and Elena Rybakina advancing past Alexandra Eala 6-4, 6-3. However, Aryna Sabalenka, the women’s world No. 1, was upset by Sorana Cirstea.
