Jannik Sinner has played at a remarkable level over the past couple of months.
He became just the eighth man to achieve the ‘sunshine double’ in March, picking up titles in both Indian Wells and Miami.
He then took back the world number one ranking from Carlos Alcaraz after beating him in the Monte Carlo Masters final.
Sinner then went on to Madrid, where he became the first player ever to win five straight Masters 1000 events. His streak continued on Saturday with a win over Sebastian Ofner in Rome.
Sebastian Ofner lost his serve three times and managed just seven winners, but Ruud believes it was more about Sinner’s performance than any struggles from Ofner.
Ruud pushes back against ‘robotic’ Sinner criticism
Ruud, who returned to the top two in the rankings earlier this year, spoke about Sinner’s form ahead of his straight sets win over Jiri Lehecka on Sunday.
“I played him [Sinner] last year in Rome and I can already think at that point, I said quite openly that was a crazy level that I felt and saw and was a witness of, and also playing the match” Ruud told Dutch broadcaster Ziggo Sport.
The Norwegian will next face Lorenzo Musetti or Francisco Cerundolo, made it clear he disagrees with the notion that Sinner’s style lacks personality.
Sinner’s groundstrokes have often been described as robotic due to their consistency and mechanical precision.
“I see a lot of people kind of, not criticising, but saying that Jannik is a little bit too much of a robot,” Ruud continued.
“When you realise how difficult tennis is and you can make tennis look robotic, it shows how good you are.
“So it honestly should be just a compliment. To make something as complex as tennis appear so simple and straightforward is incredibly impressive. Naturally, every player is now chasing him.
“But he keeps showing off to players and beating everyone so it’s incredible and kind of inspirational to see what he is doing these days.”
Reviewing Casper Ruud’s results in Rome
Casper Ruud first played the Italian Open in 2019, making it to the third round with wins over Dan Evans and Nick Kyrgios.
A year later, he went even further, beating Karen Khachanov, Lorenzo Sonego, Marin Cilic and Matteo Berrettini to reach the semi-finals.
His run was ended there by Novak Djokovic.
Ruud also made back-to-back semi-final appearances in 2022 and 2023.
But 2024 brought a surprising early exit for him, as he was knocked out by Miomir Kecmanovic in the second round.
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