"Today is a day I'm going to try to win a big title": Novak Djokovic win wasn't to blame for poor final showing says Casper Ruud

Norway’s tennis star Casper Ruud has revealed that playing in the daytime played a big part in his defeat in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters. The 25-year-old suffered a defeat in the final of the mega-event in the ATP 1000 event to Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas with a score of 6-1, 6-4 on Sunday.

Talking after the match, Ruud, who defeated the reigning world number one Novak Djokovic in the final with a score of 6-4, 1-6, 6-4, revealed that playing in the daytime played a big role in the outcome of the match as the conditions were different and also stated that he was really looking forward to finally win a big title but could not deliver on the day when it mattered the most.

"Not really, but, you know, it was obviously a tough match with Novak yesterday,” he said. “Today honestly was the first match that I played kind of during the day in these hot conditions. Honestly was a bit different, because when the sun goes down, you're playing in the evening, it's not as fast and bouncy as it was today. So it was a little bit to adjust to the condition and the speed of the court. Emotionally, yeah, I was ready. I woke up today and thought, you know, today is a day I'm going to try to win a big title. Just wasn't able to perform when I came on court.”