Casper Ruud: I'm a better player now than when I was ranked world No. 2

Four years ago, Casper Ruud was one win away from world No. 1 when he faced Carlos Alcaraz in the US Open men's final. Alcaraz, famously, won that match and title, and became youngest man in the Open Era to reach the top ranking. Ruud's consolation prize was a No. 2 ranking, which remains a career high.

But today, the 27-year-old feels he's a better player now than he was then, even if his current position in the ATP rankings doesn't show it.

"I'm standing here today with the ranking that I have, which is worse than what I have been ... [but] ranking doesn't always kind of reflect on how you feel on court. That's OK."

"I'm also realistic, realizing I lost a few matches that maybe I shouldn't have lost and didn't want to lose this year, where maybe I didn't do the years where I was Top 10, Top 5 in the world," he added.

Ruud dropped 10 places in the ATP rankings ahead of the fortnight in Rome, thanks in part to falling in the quarterfinals in his title defense in Madrid. It marks the first time he's been outside the Top 20 since the spring of 2021, a full year before reaching his first Grand Slam final in Paris the next year.

Four years later, Ruud is again rising to the occasion in what has historically been is most fruitful part of the season. A three-time semifinalist in Rome, he has already beaten two players ranked ahead of him this week, including just his second Top 10 win in the last 12 months: a 6-3, 6-1 win over a hampered Lorenzo Musetti in the Round of 16 on Tuesday.

He has to, because he says that the "quality of tennis is just rising and rising."

"Even though I feel like I've upped my level since two, three, four years ago, other players have done the same, or even more so," he said. "They have a better curve than myself. There's nothing wrong with that. I just have to accept it and keep working hard. Some tournaments some matches will feel better than others.

"I really hope I can have a good result, keep going here in Rome, build some momentum going into the later stage of this tournament, going into Roland Garros, and the remainder of the season."

Ruud will seek a hat trick of higher-ranked wins when he faces No. 13 seed Karen Khachanov in the final eight.