Jannik Sinner and Casper Ruud are two of the most successful players on the ATP Tour right now.
Sinner is a five-time Grand Slam champion and the current world number one, having won his most recent major title at Wimbledon.
Ruud has never won a Grand Slam title, having finished as runner-up three times, but he has won 14 ATP titles.
When speaking about the Norwegian, Sinner has revealed what he really thinks about Ruud as both a person and a tennis player.
Jannik Sinner says Casper Ruud is one of the ‘kindest players’
Sinner was asked to give Ruud praise in a recent video from the ATP Tour’s YouTube channel, where players were either being ‘nice or spicy’ about their fellow players.
This did not appear to be of any difficulty for Sinner, who called Ruud ‘one of the kindest players’ on the ATP Tour.
Sinner was also full of praise for Ruud’s tennis, particularly highlighting his forehand as a strength.
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“Yeah, Casper I think he is a player who everyone gets along very well [with],” said Sinner. “He’s one of the kindest players we have and I like him because he is very, very humble.
“An incredible tennis player but mostly, you know the person I always put on first place and he’s an incredible person.
“Big, big forehand, one of the biggest forehands we have on Tour and also a big server at times. So he’s a very tough player to play against.”
Jannik Sinner vs Casper Ruud Head-to-Head
Despite the clear respect Sinner has for Ruud, he has completely dominated the Norwegian in their head-to-head.
From their five encounters, Sinner has beaten Ruud every single time, with all of those victories coming in straight sets.
The latest of those came in May, when Sinner beat Ruud to win the Italian Open for the first time.
| Year | Tournament | Result |
| 2020 | Vienna Open (R32) | Sinner beat Ruud, 7-6(2) 6-3 |
| 2021 | Vienna Open (QF) | Sinner beat Ruud, 7-5 6-1 |
| 2024 | ATP Finals (SF) | Sinner beat Ruud, 6-1 6-2 |
| 2025 | Italian Open (QF) | Sinner beat Ruud, 6-0 6-1 |
| 2026 | Italian Open (F) | Sinner beat Ruud, 6-4 6-4 |
Ruud has also been full of praise for Sinner after some of their recent encounters, despite the disappointment of having struggled so much against the world number one.
The next tournament where Ruud could look to end his winless run against Sinner is at the Canadian Open.
