Casper Ruud won’t be playing any warm-up tournaments before Wimbledon after pulling out of next week’s Mallorca Championships with a knee injury.
The three-time Grand Slam runner-up has never been shy about his feelings toward grass courts. He famously joked that grass is for golf, not tennis.
Given those comments and his struggles on the surface, it’s not totally shocking that Ruud might skip grass-court season entirely. But he was actually planning to play in Mallorca this time around.
| Name | Age | Points | Stats 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Casper Ruud | 26 | 4,025 | 39 - 10 |
Knee Problems at French Open
A knee injury basically crushed Ruud’s hopes of reaching a third French Open final. He tried to battle through his second-round match against Nuno Borges, but you could see he was really struggling in those last two sets.
The 2022 ATP Finals runner-up posted a video update on the Mallorca Championships’ social media explaining his withdrawal.
He’s back on court training and says his knee feels way better than a few weeks ago. But it’s still not quite ready for match play.
"Hi guys, Casper here. Just a quick update from my side. I’m back on-court training, and the knee is feeling quite a lot better, but still, unfortunately, not good enough to compete yet. As some of you know, I entered for Mallorca next week, which I unfortunately have to withdraw from."
"I will keep training, keep pushing to be ready for Wimbledon. Mallorca will not be in reach for me. I’m really sorry for the people there, I love Mallorca, I love going there, so hopefully I can come back another time because I was really excited for it. I need to listen to the body, I will keep training, and hopefully, see you back on court soon."
Smart Move Before Wimbledon
Ruud’s being pretty smart here. Why risk making the injury worse so close to Wimbledon?
He’s got an extra week now to get ready for the third Grand Slam of the year.
The 2022 US Open runner-up is scheduled to play the Gstaad Open the week after Wimbledon. Since Ruud loves clay courts way more than grass, he’s probably worried about missing that tournament if he pushes things too hard at Wimbledon.
Growing List of Wimbledon Withdrawals
It’d be a real shame if Ruud joins the already long list of players missing Wimbledon this year.
Nick Kyrgios already announced he’s skipping the entire grass-court season after another injury setback.
Sebastian Korda also pulled out of Wimbledon, though he didn’t say why. The American had already withdrawn from Queen’s Club without any explanation either.
Kei Nishikori will be missing at SW19 too. The Japanese star has dealt with yet another injury after enjoying his longest healthy stretch since 2021.
With Ruud potentially joining them, tennis fans might be looking at a pretty depleted field come Wimbledon time.
