Ruud reflects on stomach ailment, 'great result' in Paris

After a disappointing loss to Alexander Zverev in the Roland Garros semi-finals, during which he was impaired by a stomach ailment, Casper Ruud explained that the issue began hindering him in the first set.

“It was a little bit unfortunate. I started well. Towards the middle, end of the first set, I started feeling some discomfort, an ache in my stomach. So I wasn't able to keep the intensity and the energy level up. It was something that was bothering me, just kind of limiting me,” Ruud said. “It was a pity. It's not something I think is very serious or going to last for a long time, but something that came up in the first set.”

Ruud did not delve into the details of exactly what was wrong, but he rued that it struck on such a pivotal day. He was trying to reach his third Roland Garros final.

“I don't have the answers now, but I just [am] disappointed that it had to be today. Why couldn't it be yesterday or day before when I had three days off?” Ruud wondered. “So it was a bit unlucky. I was really looking forward to the match. In a way I started well, but yeah, I wasn't able to keep it up, unfortunately.” 

The good news for the 25-year-old is that despite the ailment, he advanced to at least the semi-finals of the clay-court major for the third consecutive year (two finals) and leaves Paris in third in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin. Carlos Alcaraz could bump the Norwegian to fourth place by lifting the trophy on Sunday.

“I’m very pleased with how the season has been so far. In my game I've tried to make a few adjustments and improvements, and I think that they've come along pretty well,” Ruud said. “Still, there's a long way to go where I feel like I'm 100 per cent satisfied, and I think that's a good thing. I don't feel like I'm complete yet as a player, very far from it. So I still have a lot of things to work on. 

“But the season has been great, I would say, to sum it up. This result here in Paris is, in my eyes, a great result, and it was unfortunate and a pity today that it ended this way. But I consider it, let's say, the first half of the year very good, and I'm looking forward to having some time off.”

Ruud said that he will “probably watch the final” and that he believes it will be an “open one” between Alcaraz and Zverev. The Norwegian will then turn his attention to the grass-court season.

“I think it's a very fun surface, and I have been joking a little bit about certain things before, but I think it's a very fun surface to play on because it brings something completely different,” Ruud said. “It challenges me in a way that I think is good for my game in a way to be challenged.

“I’m really looking forward to Wimbledon. But yeah, next week I don't think I will watch much tennis.”