'This Is Next-Level S**t': Ruud Sees Funny Side Of Sinner Beatdown In Rome

Friday, 16 May 2025 at 09:14

byErik Virostko

Casper Ruud was demolished by Jannik Sinner at the 2025 Italian Open in Rome, but the Norwegian wasn't too disappointed after the loss.

Most of the time, when tennis players lose a match, they have a reason to be sad or disappointed. At the end of the day, they are all competitors and want to win any match they play. However, there are also cases when there is nothing else left to do than recognize the opponent's incredible level.

That's exactly what happened at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome when Sinner completely thrashed Ruud, winning the match 6-0, 6-1 in front of the home crowd.

It was an extremely dominant performance from the World No. 1 player, and Ruud couldn't find any answers during the match. Speaking to the media after the match, the Norwegian player wasn't too disappointed, instead, he was amazed by Sinner's level.

"It doesn't feel so bad honestly. I think it was more fun than anything, even though I lost. You just look at the guy and say, ‘This is kind of next-level s**t’ — excuse my language — 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. 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."

According to Ruud, Sinner's performance was the closest to a perfect performance that he has ever seen. The Norwegian couldn't find anything but words of praise for his opponent.

"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 with 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, felt like a hundred miles an hour plus."

"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."

Read also

Ruud also assessed his own performance after the match. He was well aware of the fact that Sinner was just the better player, but the Norwegian also believes that if he could serve better, the match could have been closer.

"The shot that let me down the most today is my serve. If I serve better, sure, you get more free points. From the baseline, I won maybe one or two of the longer rallies. I'm not even sure if I won any when I think about it. There had to be one or two, I think."

"In the majority of the baseline rallies he got the better of me, even though I felt like I tried to set up the points how I wanted. He was just everywhere. It's kind of saying that when someone plays that well, it feels like you have two forehands, one from the forehand side and the other from the backhand side."

"In his case, it's almost like two backhands because his backhand is also so good. It was like playing a wall that shoots hundred-mile-an-hour balls at you all the time."