Two-time French Open finalist Casper Ruud experienced one of his toughest matches at the Grand Slam so far in his career.
Taking on Roman Safiullin, the 15th seed was on course for a straightforward victory when leading 6-2, 7-6(5), 5-2. However, a dramatic turnaround unfolded as the Russian world No.141 staged a fightback after Ruud started to suffer in the blistering heat. Incredibly, Ruud lost 11 consecutive games but still managed to seal a marathon 6-2, 7-6(5), 5-7, 0-6, 6-2 victory after almost four hours of play.
“It was quite the roller coaster of a match with a lot of things going on and back and forth,” Ruud said afterwards.
“I felt like it was a bit of a heat-stroke feeling. In the fourth set, I felt, at times, really dizzy and really tired. Walking around like a zombie, almost.
“Luckily, I was 2-1 up (in sets) still and allowed myself to kind of lower the intensity a bit to get my pulse and body temperature down as much as possible in the fourth to see if there was any chance to finish in the fifth and have some extra energy. Luckily, that ended up working.”
The first few days of the French Open have seen hot conditions for players. On the same day as Ruud’s match, the temperature soared to 33 °C. It is expected that the hot weather will continue throughout the week. The weather isn’t just affecting the players, it is also making the courts faster and changing the pace of rallies.
When playing in the heat, Ruud says he took inspiration from the world’s top two tennis players – Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. He thought back to their experiences of playing in such conditions earlier this year.
“I also thought of Jannik and Carlos this year in Australia when Jannik, in particular, was struggling in the heat. Then it cooled off with the roof closing, and he was able to regain energy,” he recalled.
“A little bit the same with Carlos’ semifinal with Sascha (Zverev). He looked pretty dead for a while and then lost third and fourth, and then somehow regained and came back in the fifth.”
Ruud has now won 53 main draw matches at Grand Slams, with 25 of those being at Roland Garros. He has reached at least the semi-finals of one or more clay-court Masters events every year since 2020.
The 27-year-old will next play Hamad Medjedovic, who beat Yannick Hanfmann in his opening match. They previously played against each other at the Barcelona Open last year, which Ruud won 7-5, 7-5.
“I will do my best to recover well and be ready,” he said.
“It will be another tough match. The heat isn’t going away anytime soon, so we’ll just both try to be prepared as we can.
“I’ll hopefully have a good recovery with some good and proper food, good treatment and a good night’s sleep.”
