A slew of ATP players have committed to playing on grass courts this week, but Casper Ruud is not among them.
This is not a huge surprise in the slightest because Ruud has previously confessed his distaste for this short swing on grass. The Norwegian is a firm believer that tennis should not be played on manicured lawns.
There's no surface in tennis that makes a mockery of ATP players more than grass courts, with knee-length bounces calling for exquisite technique. Those with expertise in the slower, low-bouncing clay have a big challenge adjusting to fast surfaces like grass.
In the past, Ruud has even prioritized playing golf to keep himself match-fit for Wimbledon. While he hasn't taken that route this year, he is not competing in any grass-court tournament this week as the ATP caravan has been divided into tournaments in Halle and Queen's.
In fact, the three-time Grand Slam finalist is the only man in the Top 40 of the ATP rankings who is not playing at any Tour-level tournament this week without a reported injury.
Other players within that group who are not playing this week include World No. 3 Novak Djokovic, who succumbed to a knee injury while competing at Roland Garros and had to undergo surgery. The Serbian is expected to be out for a while, potentially even missing Wimbledon.
Czech youngster Jiri Lehecka is also not playing. Having struggled with a back injury for a while during the clay swing, the 22-year-old is giving himself more time to recover.
Despite his struggles and grass, it's still very odd that Ruud is not playing this week, especially with plenty of points to gain in the next two months. His last tournament was at Roland Garros, where he fell to Alexander Zverev in the semifinals.
He did struggle with illness during the match, which he lost in four sets. Ruud has a lifetime record of 4-7 on grass courts. He didn't play any warm-up tournaments last year before losing to Liam Broady in the second round of Wimbledon in five sets.
0 Comments