Jannik Sinner hasn’t forgotten: a wonderful message for Casper Ruud

World No. 1 Jannik Sinner reiterated his admiration for Casper Ruud—one of the players he respects and appreciates most on the tour—in an interview with the ATP website. “Everyone gets along with him,” said the Italian, who participated in the ATP’s “This guy is…” game. “He’s one of the nicest players on the tour, and I really like him because he’s humble. He’s also an incredible tennis player, but I always put the person first.”

“He also has an exceptional forehand—one of the best on the Tour. It’s really tough to play against him,” the Italian said on the sidelines of the Wimbledon tournament. Recently, Ruud himself had some important things to say about the South Tyrolean: “He’s strong in his balance and flexible in reaching certain positions. His mobility is impressive; he has good hip movement and knows how to slide into both positions. I had said that once all the Big Three retired, there would be more room for others to win: clearly, I was way off—even back then, Sinner and Alcaraz were winning their first tournaments, and then they simply dominated the Grand Slams.”

Ruud was one of the few colleagues to defend Jannik Sinner regarding the Clostebol case: “I hope he keeps his head held high,” he said after the Italian’s three-month suspension. “Personally, I’m always rooting for him. In my opinion, he didn’t do anything intentionally and was extremely unlucky. I think it’s a joy to watch him play, and I hope the three months go by quickly. It’s sad for him—and for tennis as a sport—when the world No. 1 goes through something like this.”

When the scandal first broke, Ruud had spoken plainly: “Reading the documents and understanding how the process works in these kinds of cases, you realize that there’s no discrimination compared to other cases.”