Major Gains for $RUUD

ATP & WTA

Madrid Recap

Major Gains for $RUUD

Heading into Madrid, Casper Ruud told the press, “I’ve been kind of feeling not great mentally this year.” Makes sense—the guy hadn’t won more than two matches in a row since February. But he got help. One of his advisors told him to think of himself… as a stock.

Ah yes, the classic mental health advice from a hedge fund manager.

But hey—it’s working. Ruud was dialed in all week and walked away with his first Master 1000 title (and some more money for the hedge fund manager to play with). More importantly, he looked happy. And that matters. In a world where everyone’s curating their highlight reel online, I’ll never get tired of an elite athlete being real enough to say: “I feel like shit right now. That’s the truth. And I’m working on it.”

Coco Rewrites the Script

This is big time. In the semis last week, Coco absolutely destroyed Iga 6–1, 6–1, beating her for the third time in a row. To me, this win released the ballooning pressure pressing up against her head. For years, that matchup has crippled her: she was 2–11 against Iga coming into 2025, including some of her most painful losses on tour. You could feel how much space it took up in her head—how heavy the history was every time they stepped on court.

Beating her once was a sigh of relief. Twice was vengeance. But three in a row? That starts to rewire things upstairs. That’s the kind of shift that clears out old doubt and lets real belief settle in. The matchup doesn’t own her anymore. And when a player like Coco is freed from that, it opens up something bigger.

Fantastic Week for Draper (Again)

First off, incredible photo. Bravo Reuters.

Of course, Draper’s a lefty with a heavy forehand, so it checks out on paper that he’d be good on the dirt. But before this year, he had literally never won more than three tour level matches in a row on clay. The Brit looked like he had been training at the Rafa Nadal Academy his entire life last week—spreading the court incredibly with his forehand, dumping the ball short at precisely the right moments, and moving gracefully on the dirt.

What’s even crazier is that twelve months ago, he was ranked outside the Top 40. And with wins last week over Musetti and Tommy Paul, he’s now No. 5 in the world. A fantastic dark horse pick for Roland Garros.

Trivia

It’s rare for players to win 6-0, 6-0 at the pro level. So it’s even crazier when someone wins 6-0, 6-0, 6-0 🤯 One of the following players did it at Wimbledon. Who was it?

A. Stefan Edberg

B. Roger Federer

C. John McEnroe

D. Bjorn Borg

Find out at the bottom!

Meet the Player

Amanda Anisimova

From: USA 🇺🇸 

Career High Ranking: 16

Fun Fact: Currently dating Tyler Roos, a former The Amazing Race Australia contestant and the son of Aussie rules football legend Paul Roos

Game Analysis: With so many American women crowding the Top 10, Anisimova tends to fly under the radar—but boy can she ball. The New Jersey native is unbelievable at taking the ball early and dictating from the center of the court. Very Agassi-esque.

Career Prediction: With wins over Mirra Andreeva, Paula Badosa, and Emma Navarro this year, the 23-year-old just cracked the Top 20. She’s got the game to elbow her way into the Top 10—but with so many Americans already there, she might get a Mean Girls-style “you can’t sit with us.”

Memes

Help

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Around the Net

Some of my favorite tennis content I found on the internet this week…

👕 I can’t get over Musetti’s drip for this clay court season. The all white oversized tank goes crazy.

♨️ Dimitrov’s warm up routine is sooo satisfying

🤓 Want more in-depth analysis on the Draper vs. Ruud final? Nerd out with this match break down — it’s really good.

Answer

A. Stefan Edberg

In the first round of the 1987 Wimbledon, Edberg enacted Swede on Swede violence by beating his fellow countryman Stefan Eriksson 6-0, 6-0, 6-0. Ouch.