Casper Ruud came incredibly close to winning his second Masters 1000 title on Sunday.
Ruud, who won his first Masters title at the 2025 Madrid Open, was defeated by world number one Jannik Sinner in the 2026 Italian Open final.
Ruud fought valiantly, but was ultimately beaten 6-4, 6-4 by the four-time Grand Slam champion.
How underrated is Casper Ruud?
He’s into another Masters 1000 final…
Despite the loss, Ruud more than proved what many have stated over the past few years: the Norwegian is one of the best clay-court players on the ATP Tour.
Ruud is a three-time Grand Slam finalist. However, he has not qualified for the final stage of a major event in three years.
However, with the form Ruud is currently demonstrating, there is every chance he could end up in the final of this year’s event.
Casper Ruud is a dark horse for the Roland Garros title
In Rome, Casper Ruud more than proved his worth as a contender for the Roland Garros title.
Despite falling out of the world’s top 15, Ruud remains one of the most formidable clay-court players on the ATP Tour – an individual who can seriously challenge those at the top of the ATP tree.
Ruud demonstrated this during the Italian Open final. The Norwegian went toe-to-toe with the world number one throughout large periods of the match, dictating patterns of play frequently.
Sinner did not play at his best in the Italian Open final, but neither did Ruud.
Moreover, with Sinner having struggled during longer matches in the past, there is every chance that Ruud would be able to seriously challenge the Italian’s title credentials in Paris, should the pair play each other.
Where does Jannik Sinner rank among the all-time greats after winning the Italian Open? 🤔
Of course, Ruud will need to improve his game further if he wishes to win Roland Garros in June.
However, with Carlos Alcaraz absent from the event, and Sinner having competed almost non-stop since the start of March, could Casper Ruud capitalise?
Casper Ruud’s Roland Garros record
Ruud made his first appearance at Roland Garros in 2018, winning on debut against Australian player Jordan Thompson. He was then knocked out in the very next round by Albert Ramos Vinolas.
Three consecutive third round appearances followed, before the Norwegian had his big breakthrough at the event in 2022.
Ruud qualified for his first Grand Slam final at the 2022 event, defeating Holger Rune and Marin Cilic en route.
In the final, he was defeated by Rafael Nadal, 6-3, 6-3, 6-0.
A year later, Ruud found himself in the French Open final once again. This time, Ruud was beaten by Novak Djokovic, 7-6, 6-3, 7-5.
In 2024, Ruud reached the semi-finals before being defeated by Alexander Zverev in four sets.
Last year, Ruud was stunned in the second round by Nuno Borges. As a result, he will defend only 50 points at this year’s event.