Casper Ruud labels ATP ‘a joke’ after Jannik Sinner’s late finish
Casper Ruud has hit out at the ATP, after fellow top 10 player Jannik Sinner completed his match at the Paris Masters at 2:37am and is scheduled to play only hours later.
Ruud had been knocked out of the final Masters 1000 event of the year earlier in the day, after being beaten by Argentine Francisco Cerundolo, 5-7 4-6.
? Francisco Cerúndolo ousts Casper Ruud from the Rolex Paris Masters, and from the ATP Finals race!
Beaten 7-5 6-4 by the Argentinian, the Norwegian, currently 11th in the Race rankings, was finalist in Turin last year. pic.twitter.com/0Su3HyyIFk
— We Are Tennis (@WeAreTennis) November 1, 2023
This officially brought an end to the Norwegian’s bid to qualify for the ATP Finals for a third consecutive season, with the 2022 finalist set to drop outside the top 10 for the first time since 2021.
However, it appears that the 24-year-old’s main gripe is with the ATP’s scheduling of world No.4 Jannik Sinner’s second round match.
Sinner began his match against American Mackenzie McDonald at 12:30am in Paris, losing the first set before fighting back to extend his winning streak to six matches.
Sinner’s Late Late Show ?@janniksin defeats McDonald 6-7 7-5 6-1 to earn a first ever victory at the #RolexParisMasters ? pic.twitter.com/sYcyjMRTLu
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 2, 2023
The Italian now moves onto play 13th seed Alex de Minaur, however this match is scheduled to take place at 5pm today, giving Sinner less than 14 and a half hours recovery time.
And Ruud was not happy about this when taking to social media, “Bravo @atptour [clapping emojis]. Way to help one of the best players in the world recover and be as ready as possible when he finished his previous match at 2:37 am this morning [thumbs up emojis]. 14,5 hours to recover.. what a joke [facepalm emoji].”
Bravo @atptour ?? way to help one of the best players in the world recover and be as ready as possible when he finished his previous match at 2:37 am this morning?? 14,5 hours to recover.. what a joke? https://t.co/X5GsgY7scj
— Casper Ruud (@CasperRuud98) November 2, 2023
When speaking after the match it did not seem clear as to whether Sinner would even be taking to the court later today, with the 22-year-old saying, “Let’s see how I wake up tomorrow.”
Inside the baseline…
It is difficult to dispute Casper Ruud’s point in this situation, especially as he is not usually the type of person to speak out on issues like this. Sinner was left with a difficult challenge to even comeback against Mackenzie McDonald, and faces even more of an uphill battle to warm down, do media, sleep, and be ready in time to compete against one of the best players in the world in Alex de Minaur, who still has an outside chance to qualify for the ATP Finals. Only time will tell to see how this plays out, and if Sinner, himself, has anything to say on the issue.
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