The RU-RU weekend in Spain
“We’re getting closer to big titles, I’m looking forward for, hopefully getting another chance in the future, continue to work hard together and hopefully break that last barrier winning a big tournament like this.,” said Casper Ruud, just a week ago when he lost the Monte Carlo Masters final to Stefanos Tsitsipas, while the latter lead the head-to-head on the clay by 2–1.
And now, the big tournament moment was at his doorstep as he met Tsitsipas again in the final, of Barcelona Open, and again stood a chance to achieve the biggest win of his career till date. Playing at Pista Rafa Nadal, where the Spaniard has won whooping 12 times, Ruud won his first ever ATP 500 and his 11th career title, also the 11th title on clay, in the past 5 years. Also, he has been a finalist for the Roland Garros for the past two years, hence it needs to be said, that the two-time runner-up is ready to face the cay grand slam again.
The 25-year-old Norwegian reached the final without dropping a set while his Greek opponent had dropped 2 sets. Ruud was broken on the first game of the first set, but he levelled it in the sixth game as he broke back Tsitsipas with a break point, leading to 3–3. Further, he broke him again as he served at 6–5 and won the first set at a tricky point.
“Winning the first set was huge, whoever had the first set had a big advantage,” said the champion and expressed that the victory was all the wait at a packed stadium.
The second set did not see a tough fight being put up from the four-time runner-up Tsitsipas, as he lost his second service game and eventually lost the set, 6–3. The match point saw blazing forehands from him in return to Ruud’s alternating backhand and forehand, and it ended on an unforced error.
The double-dimpled cheeks guy walked with a wide smile from behind the baseline to the net for a handshake, walked to his chair and again turned around with his arms up in the air acknowledging the crowd to celebrate the biggest win of his career.
“(I wanted to) give it to him more than the last week final in Monte Carlo. I was always on the back foot, too far behind, he had too much time to control the game.” said the newly crowned champion, as he avenged his Monte Carlo defeat just a week later.
The second RU in Spain happened to be their very own Grand Slam winner, Garbiñe Muguruza, often referred to as Muguruthless by her fans, announced on her social media account that she was taking retirement from the game. A Spanish-Venezuelan player, winner of two grand slams, each on a different surface in different years, had a professional career of 12 years. She had been away from the tennis circuit for over a year, having played her last professional match in January 2023. Her last 5 matches were defeats in the first-round of the respective tournaments, as she had prevailing injuries.
In a span of a dozen years, she won 10 titles, with a 449–238 win-loss record. She was ranked number 1 in singles in September 2017 and as high as number 5 in doubles. She is the 15th highest earning WTA player with $240 M. She parted ways with her coach Conchita Martinez, who coached her from 2017–18 and 2020–23, and she managed to win the World Tour Finals in 2021. She announced her engagement to a fan of hers, Arthur Borges, again in 2023.
Both of her Grand Slam victories came against either of the Williams sisters in straight sets. While she defeated Serena 7–5, 6–4 at the 2016 Roland Garros, she bageled Venus the next year at Wimbledon Championships in the final, winning 7–5, 6–0. Her last Grand Slam appearance was at the Australian Open 2023, where she lost to the Belgian Elise Mertens in 3 sets, 3–6, 7–6(3), 6–1.
“If 25 years ago, when I started hitting my first tennis balls, someone had told me that I would become a professional tennis player, that I would fulfil my dream of winning Roland Garros and Wimbledon, that I would become number one in the world and win the WTA Finals, I would have thought this person was crazy.’, she said at a press conference in Madrid on Sunday
“Tennis has given me a lot in this first part of my life. It has been a fantastic journey in which I have experienced unique situations. I have travelled all over the world and experienced many different cultures.
“I am tremendously grateful to all the people who have helped and accompanied me throughout this chapter, because without them I would not have been able to get here,” she added.
