Casper Ruud shares reason for message to ‘devastated’ Iga Swiatek and makes ‘cool’ Coco Gauff confession
Casper Ruud has revealed the reason behind his message to Iga Swiatek after her Madrid Open exit as he also answered a question about whether or not he follows women’s tennis.
Five-time Grand Slam winner Swiatek is yet to win a title so far in 2025 with her last trophy coming at the 2025 French Open when she defeated Jasmine Paolini in straight sets to win a fifth Grand Slam.
She has even struggled on her favourite clay surface as she was beaten in the quarter-final of the Stuttgart Open, losing a sixth consecutive match against Jelena Ostapenko.
Although, she reached the semi-final of the Madrid Open, she was not always at her best as three of her five games went to deciders, and her run was eventually ended by Coco Gauff as she was humbled 6-1, 6-1 by the American.
Having failed to defend her Qatar, Indian Wells and Madrid Open titles in recent months, Swiatek is in danger of slipping down the WTA Rankings if she also comes up short during her Italian Open title defence.
After the match, Ruud took to social media to offer support as he wrote: “Hey @iga_swiatek keep your head up.
“Like millions of other people, I love watching you play. Not your day today, but you inspire so many and you’ll be back stronger than ever!!”
Ruud went on to win the Madrid Open men’s singles title and during the post-match press conference he was asked if his support Iga Swiatek was from your heart he replied: “I honestly, I just, I went on-line and I saw this video of her where she was, like, she looked devastated on court.
“I don’t know, I wasn’t in her head obviously or knew how she felt, but it felt like she needs some support maybe. So I just tried my best to cheer her up. I think she’s an incredible player, and not only her.”
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The three-time Grand Slam finalist was also asked if he follows women’s tennis.
The Norwegian added: “I think women’s tennis is really cool to watch these days. You have [Aryna] Sabalenka dominating. Iga has already won five Slams in a young, her young career. Coco is there now No 3. So those three have been really cool to follow and watch.
“The final I watched a bit of it. So, yeah, I follow a little bit. I think Coco is also really cool to watch. Personally I like both Coco and Iga because I think they play very explosive, they move well to be women, and they can slide.
“I think this is cool to see that the women have also taken their athletic abilities to the next level.
“So, yeah, I like to follow and see how they develop their games. I think Roland Garros this year should be very open for I think both men and women’s side.”
