Casper Ruud has become the first tennis player, male or female, to win 30 matches this year

It’s already been a breakthrough last few weeks for Casper Ruud.

In Monte Carlo, he defeated Novak Djokovic in the semifinals for his first win over a No. 1. It was his first win over a Top 3 player, even.

Then in Barcelona he won the biggest title of his career, his first at an ATP 500 event—his previous 10 career titles all coming at ATP 250s.

And the hits keep coming: Ruud has become the first player, male or female, to win 30 matches this year, reaching that number with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Miomir Kecmanovic in his opening match in Madrid.

MOST WINS THIS YEAR (men, tour-level):
30: Casper Ruud [30-7]
26: Jannik Sinner [26-2]
23: Alex de Minaur [23-9]
22: Grigor Dimitrov [22-7]
22: Hubert Hurkacz [22-9]
21: Alexander Zverev [21-8]
21: Stefanos Tsitsipas [21-8]
20: Daniil Medvedev [20-5]

Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek lead the women’s tour this year with 27 and 26, respectively, as of the end of play on Saturday in Madrid.

Ruud had a bit of a shaky start on Saturday night—he got broken in the very first game, then Kecmanovic held at love for a 2-0 lead. The Serb even jumped out to 0-30 on Ruud’s serve in the next game.

But Ruud tightened the screws from there, holding then breaking back for 2-all, breaking again en route to a 4-2 lead, and then—after Kecmanovic tied it up at 4-all—rattling off eight of the next nine games to completely run away with it after an hour and 13 minutes.

Ruud finished the match with 29 winners to 17 unforced errors. He had 23 winners to just 9 unforced errors off the forehand side alone.

Last year it took Ruud almost twice as long to get his 30th win of the year, hitting that number with his first-round win at the US Open. That was at the end of August—a far cry from the end of April.

Awaiting the No. 5 seed in the third round in Madrid will be No. 29 seed Cam Norrie, who beat Brazilian teen Joao Fonseca, 6-1, 6-4.

Ruud leads Norrie in their head-to-head, 3-1, though Norrie’s win did come in their most recent meeting in the third round of the Australian Open this year. They’ve never met on clay.