“This sport is brutal”: Jack Draper honest take after Madrid Open loss to Casper Ruud

Jack Draper had praise for Casper Ruud after his defeat in the Madrid Open final. The Brit reached his second Masters 1000 final – after his title in Indian Wells two months ago – but fell short of the title after a phenomenal victory by the Norwegian 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.

The 23-year-old came in as a slight favorite after a great week and the very high level he has displayed in recent months, however, he was overwhelmed by Ruud. Draper had words of praise for his opponent after the loss.

“First I just wanna congratulate Casper. First Masters title for you. I think you really deserve this. The way you played today, you were braver than me in the key moments. You deserve this,” he stated. “You put in so much hard work, had constantly very good years on the tour. So just wanna congratulate you and the rest of your team for all the hard work. This loss hurts.”

Ruud secured the most important title of his career and will be situated as world No. 7 starting this Monday. The Norwegian had lost in all the major finals he had played previously, including three Grand Slams, two Masters 1000s, and one ATP Finals.

Draper will have the consolation of reaching his career-high ranking this Monday as world No. 5, in addition to placing second in the ATP Race, only behind Carlos Alcaraz. The Brit wanted to focus on the positives of a couple of good weeks and thanked his closest supporters for their encouragement. “I wanna also thank my team… my mom, my brother. Thank you for all the support. This sport is brutal but I think this loss is gonna make me better. I’ll keep trying.”