Category: ATP Monte Carlo

It is an unusual position for the Serbian great to find himself in, such is the “high standard” he sets for himself – with Ruud managing to beat Djokovic for the first time in six attempts.

Djokovic lost to Alex de Minaur in the United Cup – his chosen Australian Open warm-up event – and to Jannik Sinner in Melbourne, before being beaten by Luca Nardi in Indian Wells. Add in the defeat to Ruud, and it is clear this season is not shaping up how Djokovic might have hoped.

Mitigating circumstances do exist – this was Djokovic’s first tournament of the year on clay, while Ruud has already played in Estoril and thus was perhaps better prepared for the conditions in Monaco. Those conditions varied hugely too, with rain and unseasonably cooler weather for the players to contend with over the first few days, before the sun came out and conditions quickened.

“I’m used to really high standard in terms of expectations of the results, so not having a title is, maybe comparing to the last 15 years, not a great season at all,” Djokovic said.

“But I had semis of Australia, semis here. I only played three tournaments this year, so of course, you know, it’s normal to expect that you have some seasons where you don’t start well, and this is the one.

“Hopefully, yeah, I can pick up, in terms of results, I can build from here, because, you know, I played some good tennis. Hopefully in the next tournaments I’ll be able to play even better.”

This is not Djokovic’s worst start to a season – far from it. In 2018 he did not win a title until Wimbledon and did not make a single final on the hard or clay courts in the opening part of the season.

But given how much is expected of the 24-time major winner, his lacklustre start to the campaign has been noted by many, not least the way he lost in Monte Carlo – with a double fault on match point.

“Of course, I’m disappointed, you know, to lose a match like this,” Djokovic said of his semi-final defeat.

“I had my chances, but yeah, last game was not great. Unforced errors and just he was solid I think until the last shot and deserved to win. My game was kind of up and down.

“I mean, the positive thing is that I kind of managed to come back after losing the first set and really find the strength in the game. So, there are positives to take away from this tournament, for sure, but of course disappointed with the loss.”

As for Ruud, he is a proven performer on the dirt courts so to see him make his first final in Monaco is not unexpected, but it did surprise a few given his prior record against Djokovic.

“Obviously Novak is Novak,” Ruud said. “He’s human. Sometimes he doesn’t seem like it, but he is like everyone else.

“I think what really motivated me and helped me a bit today was maybe that I thought about, you know, he lost a match in Indian Wells to Luca Nardi, and he showed there that he’s also vulnerable sometimes. Not many times in a year, but a few days here and there he’s possible to beat.

“If you see that someone has done really well in the beginning of the year, it’s tough to play them, because you’re expecting, wow, this guy is almost impossible to beat. But if you see that many or other players have beaten him before, you believe a bit more in yourself also.”

With the rise of Sinner, the hype surrounding Carlos Alcaraz, Holger Rune playing exciting tennis and Grigor Dimitrov rolling back the years, there is plenty of talent on show on the men’s tour at the moment, but Ruud maintains Djokovic sets the standard.

Ruud said: “In my eyes, [Djokovic is] of the all-time players to try to beat. Today I was able to do it. Something I can remember for the rest of my life and tell hopefully my kids in the future and my grandkids when I’m getting old that, you know, I beat Novak one time at least.

“No one knows how long he plans to play for, but obviously he’s getting older, but he’s still physically in good shape and playing fantastic tennis. But it’s always fun to play against him, because, you know, it’s one of the toughest challenges in our sport.”

On a day of upsets in the Principality, Casper Ruud beat Novak Djokovic in the Monte Carlo Masters to make the final for the first time.

He beat the world No. 1 6-4 1-6 6-4, with Djokovic serving a double fault at match-point down to gift his opponent the crucial break and the victory.

The last point might have been a donation but the match as a whole was not, with Ruud playing some exceptional tennis as he kept the pressure on Djokovic in the crucial moments, not letting his opponent settle on a hot and sultry day in Monte Carlo.

“Tomorrow is going to be a special day, first time playing in a final in Monte Carlo, I’ll give it my all. Stef is playing well, he’s a great player on clay – clay is where he’s had the most success, but I’m up for it,” said Ruud.

Ruud and Djokovic had last met in the final of Roland-Garros last season, the Serbian running out a straight-sets winner that day. Not helping Ruud’s case on paper ahead of their semi-final was the fact that as well as Djokovic leading their head-to-head 5-0, the Norwegian had never taken a set off the world No. 1 in any encounter.

Despite that worrying record, it was Ruud who started the brighter, breaking Djokovic in the first game. The Norwegian world No. 10 was troubling Djokovic with the accuracy of his groundstrokes, with the error count mounting for the Serbian.

Ruud served for a 5-1 lead after breaking a second time, the crowd sensing a second upset of the day following Tsitsipas’ victory over Sinner earlier on. But Djokovic seemed to steady himself and broke straight back, as his forehand began to find its mark. Holding again, Djokovic forced Ruud to serve it out.

Serving it out is what Ruud did with no sign of any nerves to take his first set against Djokovic 6-4. 16 unforced errors – most coming from the forehand side – doing the damage for Djokovic.

Ruud knew a response would be incoming. Djokovic held and then broke at the start of the second set to lead 3-0.

The second set flew by with Djokovic taking it 6-1, his forehand doing the damage as Ruud looked powerless from the back of the court, unable to deal with the angles his opponent was creating from seemingly nowhere.

Ruud regrouped at the change of ends, coming out and breaking Djokovic first up at the start of the deciding set – although he had a helping hand from his opponent, who threw in five unforced errors in the opening two games.

It was the out-of-sorts Djokovic from the opening set who had made a late reappearance, the Serbian looking tired as he tried to fight back from 3-0 down. Even his impressive returns started to go missing, with Ruud looking unflappable at the other end of the court.

Somehow with Ruud leading 4-2, Djokovic managed to string together not just some winners, but some momentum as he broke back – raising a fist in the air as the crowd took to their feet such was the quality on show after some error-strewn games.

With Ruud’s serving looking solid, he took a 5-4 lead to leave Djokovic serving to stay in the match, and the Serbian player threw in a double fault at match-point down to gift Ruud an incredible victory in Monaco, and a first over his opponent.

“Just super happy, this is a day I will remember for a really long time – beating a world No. 1 is something I’ve never done, beating Novak is something I’ve never done,” Ruud said. “I’m just a little bit in a state of shock, I just didn’t want to let it slip away.

“When he missed the first serve, he’s saved so many break points in these moments with a huge second serve and I thought let it be a double fault. For me, it was nice to see that ball slip away.”

Ruud does not have long to recover from the “shock” of his victory as he will take on Tsitsipas on Sunday for the title. The duo have met this year, with Ruud a straight-sets winner in Los Cabos. They have not met on clay since 2021, when Ruud won in Madrid.

As for the defeated Djokovic and Sinner, the top two seeds have some thinking to do ahead of the continuation of one of the most open and hotly anticipated clay-court swings in recent memory.