Casper Ruud could barely moved during the fourth set and called the doctor (Image: Getty)
Casper Ruud has admitted that he was spurred on by Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner as he survived a massive scare to reach the second round of the French Open. The two-time finalist here looked like he would cruise through when he led Roman Safiullin by two sets and 5-2, holding five match points across two games. But he suddenly fell away and started to suffer from symptoms of heat stroke, calling the doctor.
The No. 15 seed lost the third set, and by the fourth, he could barely move around the court. He had a vacant look in his eyes, and was bagelled and taken to a decider. But he suddenly turned things around to claim a 6-2 7-6(5) 5-7 0-6 6-2 victory, and later explained that he was inspired by Alcaraz and Sinner, who also struggled in hot conditions at this year’s Australian Open.
“It was quite the roller coaster of a match with a lot of things going on and back and forth. Obviously, some physical struggles from myself and at one point maybe also for Roman, so it was pretty tough,” Ruud said after the match.
“I mean, as we know, there’s a bit of a heat wave at the moment, and that can sometimes cause a bit of problems. Yeah, felt like it was a bit of a kind of heat-stroke feeling. I had experienced something similar some years ago when I played in Washington D.C., and I had to retire in the third set. That’s the only time I had that same feeling as I had today in the fourth set, where I felt, you know, at times really dizzy and just really tired and walking around like a zombie almost.”
Although the fourth set sped by for Ruud, he managed to conserve his energy and was offered some solace when Safiullin took a medical timeout while leading 5-0. It gave the 27-year-old a few extra minutes to cool down at his bench. And ahead of the fifth set, both players were able to leave the court for a brief comfort break, giving him even more chance to cool down
When he returned, Ruud channelled Alcaraz and Sinner, recalling how they had overcome similar struggles at Melbourne Park. The 15th seed explained: “It started kind of sneaking up on me towards the middle of the third set. I think when I broke him to 3-1, I started feeling a tiny bit of, like, tendency of cramp in my calves, and I was thinking, ‘Oh, shoot, here we go’.
“When cramps start creeping up, you kind of try to consume a bit of energy and see if you can get some quick points and kind of this and that, because you know it can kind of develop and get worse and worse, and it can also move around from calf to thigh and quad, et cetera.
Carlos Alcaraz struggled with cramps during his Australian Open semi-final (Image: Getty)
“So I kind of managed to sneak a few games from 3-1 and be 5-2, and obviously match points, but at that time I was still feeling quite, like, shaky in the legs. Obviously 5-3, 40-0 up, you think you have it. Then I made five first serves in a row, and he played five good points, and I end up missing a forehand winner on the break point for him. That was the toughest, maybe, service break I’ve experienced in a while.
“But, yeah, then it kind of kept on creeping and creeping. This wall kind of, yeah, hit me towards 5-All, 6-5 in the third. I felt, like I said, really, really bad for a moment there. I just told myself, you know, I’d rather lose love and love, but maybe he’s also struggling. Then, at the point he calls the physio, and at that time, I had lost five, six, or maybe eight games in a row and hadn’t really moved. When you don’t move for 20, 30 minutes, you can consume a bit of energy.
“I tried to do as much ice and cold water on myself as possible to lower my temperature. Then, yeah, luckily I kind of kick-started myself in the fifth. I also thought of Jannik and Carlos this year at Australia when they – Jannik, in particular, when he was struggling in the heat. Then it cooled off with the roof closing, and he was able to regain energy.
“A little bit the same with Carlos’ semi-final with Sascha [Zverev]. He looked pretty dead for a while and then lost third and fourth, and then somehow regained and came back in the fifth. So, you know, there are some things you think out there, and today that worked for me, yeah.”
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Sinner had been in trouble during his third-round contest with Eliot Spizzirri at this year’s Aussie Open. The world No. 1 started cramping and called the trainer, but play was briefly suspended during the third set so the roof could be closed, as temperatures reached 38 degrees Celsius and the heat rule came into effect.
Meanwhile, Alcaraz led Zverev by two sets to love in the semi-finals, but started cramping and blew a two-set lead and started cramping at 4-4 in the third set. He was taken to a deciding set and trailed 2-5 before winning five games in a row to reach the final, where he went on to lift the trophy.
Ruud has a couple of days to recover before facing Hamad Medjedovic in the second round. The Serbian has been in form on the clay, reaching the Barcelona Open semi-finals and the fourth round of the Italian Open.
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