Casper Ruud took sweet revenge against Stefanos Tsitsipas at yesterday’s Barcelona Open final. His first title on clay, the Norwegian brutally lost to the Greek in the Monte-Carlo Masters final, giving Tsitsipas his own first clay title of the season. Ruud’s win impressed an American ATP legend, who drew parallels from his own career to talk about the difficulties faced by the former World Number 2.

Ruud did not have a great start to the year, but the clay swing is falling his way. As he found dominance against Tsitsipas, he will look for the same result in Madrid and finally leave the “finishing second syndrome” behind.

Jimmy Connors on Casper Ruud ‘playing some great tennis’ to reach many finals 

Ruud has played in three slam finals and two Masters finals in his career but did not win any. Before his Barcelona title, he had won 10 ATP 250 titles with not much hope. Jimmy Connors talked about him on the ‘Advantage Connors’ podcast and elaborated on his tendency to lose in finals. “Sometimes you get that ‘finishing second syndrome.’ You know, that while I’m here, I’m in the finals. Is that good enough? No, if you’re there, you might as well win, and do whatever it takes“.

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Despite losing the finals, Connors recognizes that it still takes great ability to reach one on the ATP Tour. “And, you know, and to get there, obviously, you’re playing some great tennis to have gone through your part of the draw and to have a chance to win a Grand Slam.” Ruud won his first ATP 500 title on the Catalonian clay and impressed even Connors.

A three-time Grand Slam runner-up, the Norwegian always fell short of that final big title, which Connors diagnosed as the ‘Finishing Second Syndrome’. Although fatigued in these last two weeks, Ruud’s victory over Tsitsipas was a close one. “A bit of a tricky start today—I got broken right away, not the best start—but I managed to settle in, got the break back, and then clutch time I broke him in the end of the first, which was huge,” Ruud said after the match.

Highlighting the most important win of his career, Jimmy Connors also discussed Ruud’s difficulty by discussing his own slump in grand slams which took place from 1975-1981.

Connors empathizes with Ruud as he too has ‘lost a few hopes‘

The 71-year-old former player has the record for most ATP titles with 109 titles. However, from 1975-1981, Connors appeared in eight finals and eight semifinals in slams but only won two titles. Elaborating upon his own slump in the same segment, he said, “And, yeah, I’ve been I you know, I’ve been there myself, I mean, to the point where I’ll send you in a final and, you know,, I’ve lost a few hopes, you know, what do I do to get out of this and how can I get out of it?“

He further said, “I’m gonna have to, you know, figure out something within myself because you’re playing against your opponent, he’s doing everything he can to kick your ass too. Which makes it good. But, you know, sometimes you got to bluff yourself and try to rise to another level.”

Connors and Ruud found a similar slump in their career, but the American overcame his. Can Ruud now step ahead in the Tour to win his first grand slam title?