'KINDNESS ALWAYS WINS': RUUD CLAIMS HIS BIGGEST TITLE; SABALENKA SEPARATES FROM PACK

Casper Ruud finally gets his hands on a Masters 1000 title. (Getty/Clive Brunskill)

Prolonged heartbreak has ended for world No.7 Casper Ruud after winning his biggest title at the Madrid Masters 1000.

The 26-year-old Norwegian started slow against Indian Wells champion Jack Draper to trail 3-5 in the opening set, but a string of four consecutive games propelled Ruud to a historic 7-5 3-6 6-4 triumph on the clay.

He entered the final having lost all six 'big finals' he had appeared in (Masters 1000 and Grand Slams), having finished runner-up at the US Open and twice at Roland-Garros.

"My record in big finals is still not good, it's 1-6," Ruud said. "I’ve been in many unbelievable and incredible positions in my career, and I've been able to experience some great things and, unfortunately, have been on the losing spectrum of many of those matches, but that's okay.

"In many ways, my career has gone better than maybe I thought was possible sometimes. Of course, I always dreamed about winning tournaments like this or Grand Slams or becoming world No. 1, and I've been fairly close."

After Iga Świątek's crushing 6-1 6-1 defeat at the hands of Coco Gauff in the Madrid semi-finals, Ruud consoled the five-time major winner on X amid a photo circulating on social media of the Polish star placing a towel over her head in tears during a changeover.

In the same week, Ruud also opened up about his mental health struggles associated with the tour taking a toll on his happiness, sharing that he has sought helped and is in a better headspace.

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Despite Gauff causing Świątek to win her fewest amount of games in a match since 2019, the American ace was outclassed by the ferocious power of Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets (6-3 7-6(3)), handing the latter another trophy to her name at the WTA 1000 event.

"Honestly, I think I'm able to find a push inside of myself," Sabalenka said when asked whether she needs a player closely chasing in the rankings to motivate her.

"And it's not like I'm having the easiest matches all the time…all of them can really push me to work really hard for each point."

Sabalenka has taken advantage of Świątek, Gauff and Elena Rybakina's inconsistencies by extending her gap at the top of the rankings summit to 4,225 points.

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