Ruuds season

 

I am a Ruud fan but sometimes I wonder if these physical issues are genuine. For example at the 2024 Roland Garros according to reports I have heard he was visibly unwell even though I was not following tennis at the time but at this year's Roland Garros the signs did not look as obvious and I have heard people say that they did not see visible signs of injury or illness today. It looks like it might have been heat exhaustion.

 

Casper appeared listless from the first point of the match. Had Bergs' backhand not gone astray in a couple of key games he may well have won even the first set or at least forced a tiebreak. He cleaned up that wing in the second set — and from that moment Zizou was in total control of the rallies, with Casper unable to put himself in a position to hit a return and barely moving his feet when the ball was in play. TennisTV graphics showed Ruud won a total of seven baseline points in the entire second set. Only his first serve kept him afloat but it deserted him towards the end of the second set — and it was game over for him. He was basically standing still for the rest of the match having neither energy nor desire to move side to side. All he could come up with was horrible drop shot attempts and equally horrible, slow motion net forays to get easily passed by Bergs.

Still, I'm surprised he retired. He absolutely should've done it because of bad knee at Roland Garros earlier this season but let Borges breadstick and bagel him. Not this time though.
On the other hand, Bergs, being a major choker, could've easily made a mess of this almost-win near the finish line — and nobody needed to see Zizou fighting his demons and Casper dying of humidity for another half an hour 💀

 

Picks this match to retire down 1 break after not ret. in almost 5 yrs when he could've done so in 3 of his clay losses. Not necessarily suspect but just baffling.

 

Sad for Ruud, I assume he is now may be depressed because soy milk in Shanghai isn't tasty enough for him?

 

No, It was either heat exhaustion or the wrist, if the physical complaints are legit.

 

I was watching and the retirement definately seemed to come out of nowhere. But when Ruud was talking to Zizou it looked like he said his wrist was bothering him. This was a battle of the Yonex boys and even though it ended on a disappointing note I’m happy that Bergs is moving on.

 

I watched the highlights and it looked like Ruud's movement was slower than usual though there were not other signs of discomfort.