(Reuters) -Casper Ruud said winning the biggest title of his career in Madrid is a timely boost ahead of the French Open, where the world number seven will look to reach a third final in four years and claim his maiden Grand Slam trophy.
Ruud overcame both a rib injury sustained in the semi-final and a resilient Jack Draper to seal a 7-5 3-6 6-4 victory in the Spanish capital on Sunday to become the first Norwegian winner of a Masters 1000 crown.
It ended a run of six successive losses in big finals for the 26-year-old, including the 2022 French Open and U.S. Open title clashes and the Roland Garros final two years ago.
"With this win, I put myself back in a good position when it comes to ranking and seeding," said Ruud, who jumped eight spots in the rankings and returned to the top 10 ahead of the year's second Grand Slam starting on May 25.
"If you want to win a tournament it doesn't really matter what your ranking is because you have to beat every player you play anyways.
"But it's a good step forward, and when I come to Paris, I'll always have great feeling and memories from the place. I'm a good clay court player and in best-of-five sets I'll be even tougher to beat, that's my mentality.
"I know I don't need to play great every point or every single match, but I know I can physically be there for a long time and play my clay court game, make it difficult for the opponents. That's how I felt when I've done well there."
Ruud, who has more tour-level wins (125) and titles (12) on clay than any other player since 2020, will continue his preparations for Roland Garros at the Italian Open this week.
"A win here shows the other players that I'm here to try to do well for the rest of the clay season," he added.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru, Editing by William Maclean)
