Casper Ruud has endured somewhat of a rollercoaster season on the ATP Tour, with plenty of highs and lows.
The Norwegian star began the year with a shock defeat at the Australian Open, when Ruud lost to Jakub Mensik in the second round.
Bouncing back, Ruud reached the final of the Dallas Open in his next tournament, before his form dipped once more.
Finding success on his favored surface, Ruud won the biggest title of his career at the Madrid Open Masters 1000 event, defeating Britain’s Jack Draper in the final.
Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO/AFP via Getty Images
Injury prevented him from carrying that momentum forward to the French Open; however, as Ruud fell to Nuno Borges in the second round.
Yet to make a deep run since his return from injury, Ruud now sits 13th in the world rankings, a long way from his career-high rank of second.
With that in mind, Ruud has now revealed whether he believes he can ‘catch’ world number one and two, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
Casper Ruud ‘really still believes’ he can catch Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz
Appearing as a guest on the latest episode of ‘The Sit Down’, Ruud reflected on his Madrid Open triumph and outlined the goals he has left to achieve in tennis.
“Winning a tournament is a very special feeling, so of course the Madrid title tasted well for me, and I had not won a tournament of that scale before, so it’s nice to check off a [Masters] 1000,” he said.
“I have been close on many occasions and reached finals in tournaments and, of course, Slams.
“The ultimate goal and final goal of my career is to win a trophy in a Slam one day, but it’s not going to be easy because you have a lot of players who think the same way, and the level is really high.”
The Norwegian knows it will be difficult, but he still has faith in his ability to overcome the best players in the world.
“You have two guys now [Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz] who you can honestly say have taken it to a different level, but I really still believe that they are catchable,” said Ruud.
Photo by Daniel Kopatsch/Getty Images
“That it’s possible to catch them and they are beatable, otherwise I don’t believe I would be here if I didn’t think you could beat anyone.”
Sinner and Alcaraz have dominated at the Grand Slam level since the beginning of 2024, winning the last seven tournaments.
2024 Australian Open – Jannik Sinner2024 French Open – Carlos Alcaraz2024 Wimbledon – Carlos Alcaraz2024 US Open – Jannik Sinner2025 Australian Open – Jannik Sinner2025 French Open – Carlos Alcaraz2025 Wimbledon – Jannik Sinner
Ruud has yet to win a major in his career, but has reached three finals, losing out to Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic.
The 26-year-old is a member of an elite group of active ATP stars to have played three or more Grand Slam finals, and is one of just two players to have done so without winning a title.
PlayerGrand Slam finals playedGrand Slam finals wonNovak Djokovic3724Carlos Alcaraz65Daniil Medvedev61Jannik Sinner54Stan Wawrinka43Marin Cilic31Casper Ruud30Alexander Zverev30Active ATP players to have contested 3+ Grand Slam finals
Only time will tell if Ruud can add a Grand Slam title to his trophy cabinet, but things certainly aren’t looking too good for him right now.
Suffering a defeat to Arthur Rinderknech in his Cincinnati opener, Ruud lost ground on his rivals in the ‘Live ATP Race to Turin’.
Is Casper Ruud going to miss out on a place at the ATP Finals?
When Ruud lifted the Madrid Open title in May, he looked a shoo-in for the ATP Finals, but things haven’t quite gone to plan since.
The three-time Grand Slam finalist now sits tenth in the Live ‘ATP Race to Turin’, outside of the qualification spots.
RankNamePointsStatus1Carlos Alcaraz7,590Qualified2Jannik Sinner6,100Qualified3Alexander Zverev3,680Currently qualifying4Ben Shelton3,460Currently qualifying5Novak Djokovic3,380Currently qualifying6Taylor Fritz3,065Currently qualifying7Jack Draper2,940Currently qualifying8Alex de Minaur2,745Currently qualifying9Lorenzo Musetti2,670Currently not qualifying10Casper Ruud2,235Currently not qualifying11Karen Khachanov2,110Currently not qualifying12Alejandro Davidovich Fokina2,065Currently not qualifyingLive ATP Race to Turin
Looking to close the 500+ point gap to eighth-placed Alex de Minaur, Ruud will be searching for a big performance in New York later this month.
The 2025 US Open is scheduled to begin on Sunday, August 24.