Ruud: Knee injury troubles this year’s participation, future plans will be carefully arranged

In a recent interview, Ruud disclosed that he might significantly adjust his upcoming schedule by cutting down on the number of events he enters to reduce injury and exhaustion risks.

This season, Ruud was sidelined for almost two months because of a knee injury, causing him to miss the grass-court portion of the tour. His best achievement was winning his first Masters title in Madrid, and he also reached the semifinals at the ATP 500 tournaments in Dallas and Tokyo.

“It’s been a season of ups and downs, my first time missing several weeks due to a knee injury. Obviously, it’s a new challenge,” Ruud said. “It’s a memorable year because I won the Madrid title, but overall, I’m not fully satisfied. There were too many early losses, but I’ve tried to learn from them. As I said, it will be unforgettable since I claimed the highest-level title of my career and played some very good tennis during that period.”

Regarding future participation plans, the Norwegian star stated, “Having mandatory events like the Paris Masters at the end of the season makes it incredibly long for everyone. It’s the same for all players, but moving forward, I will plan my schedule a bit differently, maybe skipping some tournaments here and there.”

“Since breaking into the top ten, I’ve had a very busy 3-4 years. I played a lot of matches and even some exhibitions before the new seasons started. These were choices I made, and looking back, I feel I shouldn’t have done that. I will take this into consideration for the future.”

Ruud is competing this week at the ATP 250 Stockholm event, where he is seeded second.

(Text and editing by George, photo credit: Visual China)