'Pretty near perfect': Casper Ruud humbled by Jannik Sinner’s Rome masterclass

Casper Ruud suffered a crushing defeat against Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals of the Rome Open, in a match that beforehand seemed much more evenly matched. The local player ended Ruud's 9-match winning streak and reached his first semifinals of the Italian Open.

The Norwegian was overwhelmed by an impenetrable performance from Sinner, who led in all aspects of the game and never took his foot off the gas. The three-time Grand Slam champion exploited Ruud's difficulties on serve and was sharp from the baseline.

It only took Sinner one hour and five minutes to secure a 6-0, 6-1 victory against the world No. 7, the recent Madrid Open champion. The 23-year-old hit 22 winners compared to his opponent's mere 7, won 76% of his service points and 68% of his return points. Furthermore, he converted 6/9 break points, while never facing a break point against him.

After the match, Ruud expressed his disappointment with the heavy defeat and acknowledged his opponent's impeccable level. “Yeah, yeah, it's as near as perfect that I witnessed, at least as a player playing someone. Just got to give it to him.”

“I mean, the first four games, I did maybe a couple unforced errors my forehand where I went for it, but I missed. Everything else that came out of his racquet and throughout the whole match, as well, feels like a hundred miles an hour plus,” the former No. 2 added. “Every single shot from the forehand, from the backhand. Even on my shots that I feel at times are pretty heavy, it comes back just firing. It's just immensely impressive. That's really all I can say.”

"It doesn't feel so bad honestly. I think it was more fun than anything, even though I lost 0-1. You just look at the guy and say, This is kind of, yeah, next-level s*** - excuse my language (laughter) - but I don't know what else to say. It was almost fun to witness at the same time.

"Of course, I wish it was a closer match. I wish I could have given the people and the fans a longer, closer match. But I think that I was there ready to play, but he was just even readier. Every area of my good shots he matched with even better back. I couldn't re-answer with a better shot. That was just the story of the match.”

Sinner will return to the court this Friday to face Tommy Paul in the semifinals of the Rome Open. The Italian leads their head-to-head 2-1, having secured the victory in their only match on clay courts back in the 2022 Madrid Open.

Match Statistics Sinner vs. Ruud