Casper Ruud has an obvious decision to make ahead of Roland Garros after his run to the Italian Open final.
Ruud lost to Jannik Sinner in the Italian Open final, continuing his winless record against the world number one.
Despite being unable to claim the title in Rome, Ruud has shown that he is one of the best clay court players on the ATP Tour and could potentially be a contender for the Roland Garros title after Carlos Alcaraz’s withdrawal.
However, Ruud’s chances of winning his first major title could depend on whether he makes a decision ahead of Roland Garros.
Casper Ruud needs to withdraw from the Geneva Open
Ruud is a two-time former Roland Garros finalist, and he will be hoping to go one step further in Paris this year.
The Norwegian is still entered into one tournament ahead of Roland Garros this year, with Ruud the sixth seed at the Geneva Open.
Ruud is a three-time former champion in Geneva and will have many fond memories of the ATP 250 tournament, but he needs to withdraw if he wants to challenge at Roland Garros.
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If he had lost early at the Italian Open and was short of matches, then Ruud would be wise to play in Geneva, but that is not the case.
Ruud is likely to reach the latter stages of the Geneva Open if he plays, and that would not be beneficial in terms of recovery ahead of Roland Garros.
As a result, it is only sensible for Ruud to prioritise the biggest tournaments and withdraw from his first round match against Jenson Brooksby at the Geneva Open.
Casper Ruud will be hoping to land in one section of the Roland Garros draw
Ruud fell to his lowest ranking in five years ahead of the Italian Open, but he has now returned to the top 20 after his run in Rome.
As a result, Ruud will be the 15th seed at Roland Garros, which means that he is guaranteed to be forecast to play a top four seed in his fourth round match in Paris.
While this is daunting for Ruud, with the potential of Sinner, Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic looming, there is clearly one player who he would not mind playing.
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That player is fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, who has only won four matches at three clay court tournaments this year.
Ruud would be the favorite to beat Auger-Aliassime at Roland Garros given this form, despite having actually lost three of their four previous matches on clay.
That is not the only thing that Ruud will be hoping for when the Roland Garros draw is made, as he will likely want to be in the bottom half of the draw where Zverev is the top seed, avoiding top seed Sinner.
Ruud will discover this information on Thursday, May 21, when the Roland Garros draw takes place.
