Last year's finalist Casper Ruud is ready for the Roland Garros challenge even though he didn't shine this year on the ATP Tour.
The Norwegian player is having one of his weaker seasons since his breakout and much of that has to do with a funky offseason which he won't repeat again. The Norwegian suffered multiple shocking losses this year, talking about his frustration about the season a few times.
It looked a bit better in Rome with a few impressive wins but he stumbled once again in Geneva recently. It's pretty clear that his form is up and down and far from his best tennis. He also ended his practice in Paris a bit earlier and dismissed any concern about an injury in the press conference after.
It was just something that happened during practice, like a small, I don't know what you call in English, maybe a kink, something that I just needed to get some manipulation and feel looser. It's not a big issue. I have still to feel better and already now sitting here I can move it more freely. I don't know what happened during practice, but it's no big concern luckily.
While the Norwegian brushed off any concerns about an injury he did admit that he felt pain in his neck which is never a good thing. He even admitted that those things usually limit your movement and on clay that is one of the most important things.
It was just a little painful with the neck. Whenever you have pain in the neck, it's a little, you feel very limited in your movement, so I didn't want to force anything. I have a tough practice session tomorrow with Novak, and I'm gonna get some really good intensity and so on there, so, you know, the goal is obviously to be physically ready for these longer matches, best-of-five on clay. Wasn't the biggest of concerns.
He's not worried but it's a thing to keep in mind as it could impact anything from his serve to his movement. Hopefully, the season doesn't turn from bad to worse for Ruud. Losing all of those points from last year's run to the final would be a big bit.
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