British number one Jack Draper missed out on a first ATP Tour clay-court title as Casper Ruud edged an absorbing Madrid Open final.
Draper, 23, was beaten 7-5 3-6 6-4 in the Spanish capital.
An impressive start led to him breaking early in the first set, before Norway’s Ruud fought back from 5-3 down to secure the opener.
After an emotional outburst in his chair, Draper recovered to level and ensure the title would be decided by a winner-takes-all final set.
But his serve came under severe pressure and Ruud, a two-time French Open finalist, broke for 3-2 before serving out to clinch his first ATP Masters title.
“This sport is brutal but I will keep trying, I think this loss will make me better,” said Draper.
“I thought there was a lot of good stuff but in a couple of key moments I felt like his level maintained and mine maybe just dipped off a little bit.
“Not quite getting over the line helps fuel my fire a bit more that I need to keep on pushing, I need to keep on improving.”
Despite the obvious disappointment of losing the final, he will reflect on an impressive fortnight at a key event in the build-up to the French Open, which starts later this month.
Draper had previously never gone beyond the quarter-finals of a tour-level tournament on clay.
On Monday, he will rise to a new career high of fifth in the world rankings.
“I knew that Jack has been playing so well all year, so I knew I had to bring my A+ game. Jack is an incredible player,” said 26-year-old Ruud.
While he was ultimately unable to walk away with the trophy, Draper’s performances on the Madrid clay underlined why he is undoubtedly a serious force – across all surfaces.
Draper has long been tipped to go to the very top of the men’s game, with Andy Murray saying last year he thought the left-hander had the potential to become world number one in the future.
That came after Draper won his first ATP title on the Stuttgart grass and elevated him to the status of British number one.
Since then, he has continued to make great strides.
After working hard to overcome the physical issues which hampered his early days as a professional, Draper answered some critics with three back-to-back five-set victories at the Australian Open in January.
More importantly, it increased his own belief.
He reached the Doha final in his next tournament and then came another important milestone in his career – winning his first Masters title at the prestigious Indian Wells hard-court tournament.
Since then, Draper has continued to grow in stature. He arrived in Madrid feeling confident that his game could thrive in the livelier clay-court conditions produced by the altitude in the Spanish capital.
Moving through his opening five matches without dropping a set backed that up.
Draper’s serving was a vital tool in his success, along with the ferocity of a forehand which pushed opponents behind the baseline and created thunderous winners.
Facing Ruud was always going to be a tough proposition, though.
The world number 15 is one of the leading clay-courters in the men’s game and showed why in a gritty performance where he needed to be at his best to beat Draper.
Ruud’s success was underpinned by the potency of his first serve, winning 81% of these points, as well as showing he had the physicality to grind out victory.
“There are no holes in Jack’s game,” said Ruud, who will climb back into the top 10 on Monday.
“I think he will become more and more difficult to play on clay. He will be a threat. The sky is the limit for him.”-BBC
