"We're pushing our bodies to their limits": Casper Ruud blames 'busy schedule' for Holger Rune's serious injury

Norway’s Casper Ruud has blamed the ‘busy schedule’ for a serious injury to Denmark’s Holger Rune. The 22-year-old, who is regarded as one of the most talented players on the tour, suffered a serious injury during the semifinal of the Stockholm Open.

Rune was in considerable pain in the second set of the contest against France’s Ugo Humbert and was in tears as he was taken off the court. Rune confirmed on Sunday that he has indeed ruptured his Achilles and will undergo surgery next week, which is expected to keep him out of action at least until the summer of 2026.

“It's going to be a while before I can step on court again,” said Rune. “It's tough. I had so much joy on court in Stockholm and it's unbearable to think that I will not feel this energy for some time now. My Achilles is full broken on the proximal part meaning I need operation already next week and from here rehabilitation thank you for all your support now and always . Without you nothing would be the same. See you as soon as possible.”

The injury once again raised concerns about the demanding schedule in the world of tennis. There have been a lot of big-name players who came out and criticised the tennis schedule. Current world number one Carlos Alcaraz started the conversation last year, and it received a lot of backing this year from the likes of 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic and America’s Taylor Fritz.

Recently, Britain’s Jack Draper, who himself is out of action and had to end his season early to recover from an arm injury, in a post on his X account, criticised the schedule. “Injuries are going to happen,” wrote Draper. “We are pushing our bodies to do things they aren’t supposed to in elite sport. We have so many incredible younger guys on the tour right now and I’m proud to be apart of that, however, the tour and the calendar have to adapt if any of us are gonna achieve some sort of longevity.”

Norway’s Ruud has remained very vocal about the challenges of a demanding tennis schedule. In the recent past, he has not only supported Djokovic’s criticism of the tennis schedule but also questioned the logic behind extending the ATP Masters from a week-long competition to a 12-day-long event. Now, Ruud has come out and blamed the tennis schedule for a serious injury to Rune.

Ruud, who won the Stockholm Open after beating Humbert in the final in straight sets, before the final, spoke at length about Rune’s injury. Ruud was of the opinion that while injuries can happen anytime, playing so much tennis without proper protection has put all the tennis players in danger of suffering from a serious injury.

"Holger [Rune]'s injury is very tough,” said Ruud. “It looks very serious, and even though I know he's going to have tests tomorrow [Sunday], I heard that he himself heard a particular sound, which is a very bad sign. It's the kind of injury you can't control, so it's extremely unfortunate. Tennis is a brutal sport, and when you're a tennis player, the last thing you want is to miss several months of competition. He's still very young, he has his whole career ahead of him, so I hope he can come back quickly. I think tennis has become a sport where everything moves very fast, we have to be physically ready for every match."

He continued by saying: "I'm not saying it wasn't physical before, but I'm sometimes surprised by how physically demanding you have to be to be competitive in tennis. When you go from one tournament to another, everything becomes very demanding. Holger was in Shanghai last week, and when you live at such a high level of demand, these kinds of things can happen. We're all in a kind of risk zone every time we step onto the court. In a way, all injuries are probably due to the very busy schedule. It's very tough, and we're pushing our bodies to their limits. Holger is one of the players who still had a chance to participate in the ATP Finals, it's a shame it ended like this for him. I wish him a speedy recovery.”