Tennis world rocked by 'awful' drama at French Open as Aussie handed boost

Yahoo

29-05-2025

French Open fans were left stunned after Casper Ruud played through injury and showed class after he was knocked out in the second round to open up a path for Aussie Alexei Popyrin. Ruud is a Roland Garros finalist and recently won the Madrid Open as he entered the grand slam in excellent form.
However, he appeared to be hampered by a knee injury in just the second round as he succumbed to Nuno Borges as the Portuguese ran away with the match in four sets. After dropping the first set, Borges was way too strong winning 2-6 6-4 6-1 6-0 with Ruud calling for the trainer having battled throughout the contest.
Ruud never gave up and won the respect of tennis fans as he battled through the pain in tough conditions with the rain causing havoc. However, fans claimed it was 'awful' watching Ruud break down as he offered little fight in the fourth set when he was bagelled.
Speaking after the shock loss, Ruud admitted he has been carrying a knee injury since the start of the clay court season. But didn't want to give up. "As we know, it's a hectic clay season, and I decided to kind of push through it doing some anti-inflammatory pills and painkillers to try to get rid of it, which has helped to a certain degree but not enough.
"I will have some more time now to let it heal and rest for a long time." Unfortunately, Ruud was left frustrated with the current system for players having claimed it's hard for them to withdraw from events when they are fighting for points and money.
"It's kind of like a rat race when it comes to the rankings as well," he said. "You feel you're obligated to play with certain rules that the ATP have set up with the mandatory events." Fans felt for Ruud having watched the tennis favourite struggle in a grand slam that has seen him reach the final in 2022 and 2023.
It was awful to watch, awful conditions and very sad for Ruud being injured.
— Elaine 🇦🇺🐊 24 428🥇💯 (@GmaElaine6) May 28, 2025
Casper Ruud earned my respect today, clearly injured after the 1st set, but he played out the whole match out of respect for his opponent and the fans. Way to go Casper and hope it's nothing serious 🙏
— thefedexpress (@thefedexpresss) May 28, 2025
The balls do look soooo muddy in the Ruud-Borges match, but I think Casper is allowing it to get into his head too much. That last service game looked unfocused, as Borges goes up a break in the second set!
— AllAboutTennisBlog (@TennisBlogger1) May 28, 2025
But Ruud's loss opens up the path for Popyrin. Before this year, Popyrin had never been past the first round of the French Open having struggled on clay. However, the No.25 seed has now advanced to the third round after defeating Alejandro Tabilo in straight sets.
Popyrin has endured an up-and-down season in 2025, but his backhand has improved under new co-coach Wayne Ferreira. And he is looking confident in Paris as he takes on World No.42 Borges in the third round.
"I've always had that confidence. On my day I can beat anybody, but that's not important to me. What's important to me is bringing a consistent level day in, day out. That's what I've struggled with in the past," he said.
As a junior Popyrin enjoyed playing on clay having won the boys' championship at Roland Garros eight years ago. And he has finally translated his form to clay in 2025 having made solid progress to reach the quarter-finals in Monte Carlo and Geneva.
While Alex de Minaur will be hoping to join him, Popyrin became the first Australian to advance to the last 32 this year. And he has done it without dropping a set. And he will be hoping he can continue his form against Borges in the next round.