I’ve never seen an opponent play so close to perfection," says Ruud after his crushing defeat against Sinner

In just one hour of play, Casper Ruud was swept aside 6-0, 6-1 by Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals of the Rome Masters 1000.

The world No. 7, who recently won the title in Madrid, never had a chance to trouble the Italian and expressed great admiration for his opponent’s performance:

"I’ve never seen an opponent play so close to perfection. In the first four games, I might have made a few forehand errors, but everything else came off his racket. Every shot was coming at 100 miles per hour.

Every stroke, whether it was his forehand or backhand. Even if my shots were heavy, his came back even harder. It was just impressive. [...]

I don’t feel that bad, honestly. It was more amusing than anything, even if the score was 6-0, 6-1. You can just watch and think, 'This stuff is on another level' (laughs). Excuse my language. I don’t know what else to say.

I might have wished for a more balanced match or for it to last longer. I thought I was ready for this match, but he was even more ready than I was. I just couldn’t handle the shots he was hitting.