[laura-DSandMC]

Thank you Françoise
I was looking for news ...

[Truc]

More news about his hip injury in the new Tennis Mag, he hopes to be back at the end of April or in May so he can be ready for the RG qualies (I think he will get a wild-card, but he talks about the qualies):

[Hewitt =Legend]

He will definitely get a MD wildcard, hope he can recover well from the hip injury, its a bit worrying he's sustaining those kinds of injuries so young in his career.

[Smoke944]

He's back at a 10k future in Bosnia and went through qualies there.

[Hewitt =Legend]

Can't believe he didn't even get a qualifying wildcard - is he injured again?

[Truc]

No, he's fine, he's still playing his Future in Sarajevo.
He doesn't need a qualifying wild-card. And he apparently didn't want a main draw wild card, which is really stupid imo. He could have played another event somewhere else to gain some match practice.

Edit: He gave w.o. in the final of the Future, no idea why.

[Truc]

It was just a cold in Sarajevo.
Planque (his coach) says in l'Equipe that they took the decision for the wild-card in Sarajevo and they both agreed on this. He's been out for 11 weeks, has played only 4 tournaments and 10 matches since January. They shouldn't waste a wildcard for the biggest clay tournament in the world.
The problem with the hip is completely OK now, he only needs more matches. He has less than 100 hours of tennis under his belt, last year at this time of the year he had 500.

Rufin en toute modestie
151e JOUEUR MONDIAL, Guillaume Rufin aurait pu prétendre à une wild-card pour le grand tableau de Roland-Garros. Tel le soutier de base, il passera pourtant par l’épreuve des qualifications. Finaliste d’un Futures en Bosnie pour son tournoi de reprise, le jeune Français (19 ans) n’estime pas mériter une invitation. « On en a parlé il y a quelques jours dans le couloir d’une auberge de jeunesse à Sarajevo et on est tombés d’accord, explique son coach, Emmanuel Planque. Il faut voir d’où Guillaume revient : onze semaines sans compétition, quatre tournois et dix matches dans les jambes depuis le 1er janvier… On ne peut pas galvauder le plus grand tournoi du monde sur terre battue. » Forfait en finale de Sarajevo à cause d’un refroidissement, Rufin manque de références après la douleur à la hanche qui l’a empêché de jouer depuis son quart àMarseille, mi-février. « Un problème articulaire, mais qui est définitivement réglé, poursuit Planque. Maintenant, il lui faut des matches. Il a moins de cent heures de tennis derrière lui depuis le début de l’année. En 2009, à la même époque, il en avait cinq cents. » L’an dernier, Rufin avait atteint le deuxième tour du grand tableau. Cette année, il lancera ses qualifs contre le Roumain Victor Crivoi (159e).

[Truc]

In L'Equipe today:

Guillaume RUFIN (151e mondial) avait un défi difficile à relever pour son premier match en France depuis sa blessure à la hanche à Marseille en février. En face de lui, le Roumain Victor Crivoï (159e), qui avait passé un tour dans le grand tableau l’an passé, fit prévaloir sa plus grande régularité (7-5, 6-3). Pourtant le jeune Français (20 ans dans huit jours) avait mené 5-2 dans la première manche. « D’où vient la déception, expliquait son entraîneur Emmanuel Planque. Guillaume avait les armes pour gagner ce match. Il lui a manqué ce petit plus d’agressivité vers l’avant qui lui aurait permis de prendre le match à son compte. Moralité : entraînement à fond. » Rufin ne pourra donc rééditer sa belle performance de l’an dernier, où il avait battu au premier tour Schwank avant de perdre face à Melzer.

His coach says it's a disappointment because he was up 5-2 in the first set and had the weapons to win the match, but he wasn't aggressive enough.

[Truc]

I posted my reports about Guillaume in Hamburg on "Les joueurs de l'ombre", here's just the link of the album:
http://sports.webshots.com/album/578199580mUOBQN

Not enough variations in his game for my liking (and the opponent - Struff - didn't help in that regard, he was a "poor man's Rufin", so it was quite monotonous), but I was impressed by Guillaume's focus and fight since he was obviously injured (left thigh).
I was also impressed by his aggressive play on Struff's 2nd serves, he was standing 1-2 meters in the court to return the serves.
He's too funny to watch off-court with his Professor Calculus look.

I hope he will be able to play today in spite of the thigh injury, he has the best possible draw with Rosol.

Edit: he retired at 6-3 3-0. :-/

[Cyril S.]

I've added on my site my Roland Garros photos :


La Page de Guillaume Rufin

[soulage]

according lequipe from today he has big chances to take the WC for the USO the one given by FFT. No confirmation yet.

[GasquetGulbis]

Originally Posted by soulage

according lequipe from today he has big chances to take the WC for the USO the one given by FFT. No confirmation yet.

According to US Sports Yahoo he has received the spot.
http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/tennis/ne...-tennisusaopen

[Pixie]

Wasn't very fond of this USO WC but Guillaume made good use of it : a win over L.Mayer 2/6 7/6 7/6 6/1. Vamos ! The kind of win to give some confidence back.

The winner of Hewitt-Mathieu next.

[GasquetGulbis]

Does anyone know why Rufin isn't in the Australian Open Qualifications?

[soulage]

Originally Posted by GasquetGulbis

Does anyone know why Rufin isn't in the Australian Open Qualifications?

he had a surgery on his hip at the end of 2010 mid december indeed. No news about when he will come back.