Ruud on Facing “A wall that shoots hundred-mile-an-hour balls at you” in Rome

By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday May 15, 2025

Casper Ruud ran into a version of Jannik Sinner that all tennis players hope to avoid on Thursday in Rome. The version of Sinner that waltzes through points, games and sets on cruise control, as his shots ricochet past his opponents for clean, jaw-dropping winners.

In the end the Norwegian, one of the best clay-courters of his generation, had no answer, and he answered questions about the match as if he was still delirious from the experience of trying to take points, let alone a single game, against the fast-firing Italian No.1.

“It was like playing a wall that shoots hundred-mile-an-hour balls at you all the time,” Ruud told reporters. “Everything else that came out of his racquet and throughout the whole match, as well, feels 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.”

Casper Ruud on facing Sinner today:

“It was like playing a wall that shoots hundred-mile-an-hour balls at you all the time.”

— TennisNow (@Tennis_Now) May 15, 2025

Ruud had a nine-match winning streak that took him through the Madrid title and into today’s quarterfinal in Rome, and he was displaying great form on his favorite surface. In fact, he still is displaying great form – it simply was not near as good as the mind-blowing tennis that Sinner can – and did – produce on Thursday evening.

Ruud admitted that it was entertaining to see the game played at such a high level, even if he was the one being victimized by it

“I think it was more fun than anything, even though I lost 0 and 1. You just look at the guy and say, ‘This is kind of, yeah, next-level shit’ – excuse my language (laughter) – but I don’t know what else to say. It was almost fun to witness at the same time.”

Ruud will still take some momentum to Paris after a successful stint in Europe. He won his first Masters title in Madrid and returned to the Top-10. He’s now 24-7 on the season. All that remains is for him to avoid Sinner in the Roland-Garros draw for as long as possible.

“Of course, I wish it was a closer match. I wish I could have given the people and the fans a longer, closer match,” he said. “But 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.”