Casper Ruud made a tough decision between playing Rafael Nadal at the Philippe-Chatrier in the final of the French Open and proposing to his longtime girlfriend Maria Galligani. The Norwegian was asked, after his opening round win at the 2025 Australian Open, which of the aforementioned two situations made him more nervous.
Ruud kicked off his campaign with a topsy-turvy 6-3, 1-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 win over Jaume Munar. During the post-match interview, Ruud was asked what made him more nervous, playing his idol Nadal or asking Galligani to marry him to which he responded,
“The pulse got up there when i went down on my knees. It was a great moment…
While Ruud was decimated 3-6, 3-6, 0-6 by his idol in his maiden Grand Slam final, he received a positive response from his longtime girlfriend Galligani to his proposal. The Norwegian admitted that the latter was a bigger moment.
“I don’t wanna say the wrong things. What I’m trying to say is I’ll never forget playing Rafa in a Slam final but for sure I’ll also never forget going down on my knees to Maria. It was a beautiful moment. I think it was a bigger moment.
He also hilariously quipped how some of his peers needed to step up and propose to their girlfriends.
“There’s a few other young guys that have been in relationships for a long time. I’m kind of teasing them. I hope for their girlfriends that they step up at some point. The guys know who they are.”
“It’s a lot of things before you have time for maybe your partner” – Casper Ruud on Maria Galligani’s decision to stay away from the limelight
During an interview with We Are Tennis in November, Casper Ruud opened up about his girlfriend Maria Galligani’s decision to stay away from the limelight. The Norwegian also talked about Galligani was understanding of his work commitments.
“It’s tennis, it’s treatment, it’s media, it’s maybe meeting a sponsor. It’s a lot of things before you have time for maybe your partner.”
“So she’s been very, very patient and great with these things, and on the social media side and kind of headlight side, she doesn’t want it. She wants to be her own, in control of her own kind of life and especially personal life. I’m happy that she’s found that way.”
On the tennis side of things, sixth seed Casper Ruud will play either Nikoloz Basilashvili or Jakub Mensik in the second round of the 2025 Australian Open. The Norwegian is placed in the bottom half of the draw, which features second seed Alexander Zverev, third seed Carlos Alcaraz, and seventh seed Novak Djokovic.
