Two-time finalist Casper Ruud says he has been struggling with knee pain for ‘the past couple of weeks’ after suffering a surprise exit from the French Open.
The world No.8 won the opening set against Portugal’s Nuno Borges before losing 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-0, in what is his earliest exit from the tournament since 2018. Ruud started on a positive note against Borges but as the match progressed, his movement on the court became more limited. After dropping the third set, he took a medical timeout for treatment on his left leg with the trainer working on his calf region, as well as behind the knee.
Despite the injury problem, the Norweigan opted not to retire from his match. Something he has only done once at a Grand Slam event which was four years ago at the Australian Open.
“For the last couple of weeks I’ve been struggling a little bit with knee pain on and off,” Ruud confirmed during his press conference.
“That’s why I decided to pull out of Geneva. When you’re practicing, leading up to the tournament, it’s easier to avoid certain movements that are painful. Certain movements out there are kind of what makes it (his knee) painful. Certain shots are painful to do.
“When you’re playing matches, you can’t really control it in the same way. You do everything you can to get to every ball. Sometimes you kind of forget that this is a shot I shouldn’t go for, maybe in terms of pain in the knee.”
Shedding further light on his issue, Ruud confirmed he has been experiencing pain since Monte Carlo and underwent a scan in Madrid. The scan showed there was no structural damage but there was inflammation.
“It’s a hectic clay season and I decided to kind of push through it doing some anti-inflammatory pills and painkillers to try to get rid of it, which has helped to a certain degree but not enough,” Ruud explained.
“I will have some more time now to let it heal and rest for a long time.”
However, the 26-year-old doesn’t have a significant amount of time before the next Grand Slam, Wimbledon, gets underway in less than five weeks. At the moment, Ruud’s plans for the grass swing are up in the air depending on his knee.
But is there a possibility he could miss this year’s grass swing?
“We’ll see,” he commented. “I’ll go home and do some more scans as soon as possible and see if there’s anything that has changed.
“Between Rome and here, I took five days completely off at home. It wasn’t enough to make the pain go away. I definitely think that I would need more than five days off, then take a status in a week or two, see where I’m at.”
Ruud is the most successful clay-court player on the ATP Tour since 2020 in terms of matches won (129) and titles (12), including this year’s Madrid Masters. Out of those wins, 21 were achieved at Roland Garros.
He will undergo more tests on his knee in the coming days.
