PARIS — Casper Ruud is hardly an up-and-comer simply trying to make his way — and a living — in professional tennis. He's a three-time Grand Slam finalist, ranked No. 8, the owner of more clay-court victories than any other man since 2020 and someone who's earned nearly $25 million in prize money.
And yet Ruud felt the need to play through pain for the better part of two months, right up until the moment the left knee that's been swollen from a build-up of fluid, that's prompted him to pop pills, that's ached every time he slides into an open-stance backhand, became too problematic during a French Open second-round match. He didn't stop, but he did drop 13 of the last 14 games in a loss Wednesday.
Afterward, the 26-year-old Norwegian voiced concerns, also expressed this week by other players, that there is an overwhelming sense of obligation to take the court as often as possible, no matter one's health, thanks to a schedule and a system Ruud called a ''rat race.''
''You feel like you lose a lot if you don't show up and play, both economically, point-wise, ranking-wise and opportunity-wise,'' Ruud said, noting that skipping one mandatory event brings a 25% cut to a year-end bonus on the men's tour. ''You're kind of forcing players to show up injured or sick.''
Tennis players wonder if pushing their bodies to extremes is a good idea
Caroline Garcia, a 2022 U.S. Open semifinalist who announced this is her last season as a pro, wrote in a social media post that she relied on a steady diet of anti-inflammatories, corticoid injections and plasma treatments to deal with a bum shoulder.
The 31-year-old from France wondered aloud: ''Is it truly worth pushing our bodies to such extremes?'' She spoke in Paris about the stresses of trying to maintain one's ranking and ''the responsibility'' of performing for one's entourage.
''I can feel what she feels,'' said Alexander Zverev, a three-time major runner-up. ''The thing is, with us tennis players, it's a 1-on-1 sport, so we get the blame all the time, right?''
