Staff Reporter.
Two-time French Open finalist Casper Ruud said the ATP’s ranking system was like a “rat race” as players felt compelled to compete in the tour’s mandatory events even if they are carrying injuries.
Ruud, a two-time runner-up at the French Open, suffered a second-round exit on Wednesday, losing 2-6 6-4 6-1 6-0 to Portugal’s Nuno Borges.
The seventh seed won the first set comfortably, but struggled towards the end of the match with a knee injury that he has been carrying since April.
“It’s been with me actually the whole clay season on and off,” he said.
“As we know, it’s a hectic clay season, and I decided to kind of push through it doing some anti-inflammatory pills and painkillers to try to get rid of it, which has helped to a certain degree but not enough.
“I will have some more time now to let it heal and rest for a long time.”
Ruud said it is difficult to take time off on the ATP Tour to allow an injury to heal.
“It’s kind of like a rat race when it comes to the rankings as well,” he said.
“You feel you’re obligated to play with certain rules that the ATP have set up with the mandatory events.”
The ATP and the women’s WTA Tour have mandatory requirements, meaning players must appear at a set number of tournaments each season.
The top-ranked ATP players are required to participate in eight of the nine mandatory Masters 1,000 events each year, with Monte Carlo the only exception.
Ruud missed Monte Carlo – the first big clay-court event of the season – but he played at the Italian Open in Rome after winning his first ATP Masters title in Madrid.
The world number eight also feared that he would miss out on defending ranking points, which are used to decide where a player is seeded and whether or not they can gain direct entry into a tournament.