Casper Ruud knocked out of French Open and reveals he's been injured all clay-court season
Two-time runner-up Casper Ruud became the biggest causality of the French Open so far as the seventh seed was knocked out by Nuno Borges.
Ruud struggled with a knee injury and won just one game in the final two sets as Borges progressed to the third round with a 2-6 6-4 6-1 6-0 win.
The Norwegian took a medical timeout and received treatment on his left knee after the third set but carried on playing on the Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
However, he did not win another game as the Madrid Open champion suffered his earliest Roland Garros exit since 2018.
Ruud reached the French Open final in 2022 and 2023, losing to Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, and was beaten in the semi-finals last year by Alexander Zverev.
He won the biggest title of his career in Madrid by beating Jack Draper in the final of the ATP 1000 event and then reached the quarters in Rome, where he was thrashed by Jannik Sinner.
But Ruud, 26, then revealed he had been carrying the knee injury for a 'couple of weeks' and had been taking pain-killers to get through matches.
Ruud said he first felt the pain at the start of the clay-court season in Monte Carlo and had a scan during the Madrid Open as he went on to win the title.
He said he was avoiding certain movements on court but took nothing away from Borges. Ruud also said he considered quitting during the match.
'It's a slam, I love this tournament,' Ruud said. 'Looking back, I tried my best to continue. I mean, just try to avoid the shots that are hurting.
'But towards the end, there were also other movements that started hurting, so it wasn't ideal. I asked for the physio after the third set, hoping he could maybe make a change.
'Then quickly I was 0-4 down in the fourth. I was thinking anyways, might as well finish, we're two games away.'
Borges, 29, recorded his first victory against a top-10 opponent and the World No 41 advanced to the third round of the French Open for the first time in his career.
'I was fighting a lot especially that first set. I felt completely drilled. He was playing with a huge intensity and I wasn't handling the situation the best. It was too much for me.
'I kept trying and I realised he started to slow down a little bit. Obviously he wasn't a 100 per cent today, or I'm sure the result would not have been the same. But I'm still proud of how I battled.
'From the beginning until the end, I gave myself a shot and I got lucky.
'I realised he wasn't moving too well to the sides. I thought he was still quick moving to my drop shots. I tried to open up the court a bit and I got some more free points.
'I thought, if I stay aggressive I will have a good chance. In the end I thought I played really consistent and really solid. I'm really happy. It's a big milestone for me to reach the third round.'
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