Casper Ruud criticizes tennis stars for ‘making drama’ after Raducanu and Djokovic complain | Tennis | sport

Casper Ruud accuses tennis players of “drama” by complaining about the different balls used in different tournaments.

Emma Raducanu and Novak Djokovic are just two of the prominent players who have raised concerns that the rallies could lead to injury problems on both the WTA and ATP tours.

Raducanu, who underwent surgery on both wrists last year, believes the problem needs to be addressed. “I think it’s really bad for us that we have to change the ball every week, especially when you’ve had surgery,” she said. “I don’t understand why every other sport is pretty much the same while tennis is different from week to week.”

Djokovic, who tops the men’s all-time Grand Slam charts with 24 titles, also believes the issue requires further study. “There was a lot of discussion every week about the effect of the different balls on the joints, the wrist, the shoulders and the elbows,” he said in 2023.

“Someone told me that the number of injuries has increased dramatically this year compared to other years. I absolutely agree that there should be a discussion about this.”

Iga Swiatek, Taylor Fritz and Daniil Medvedev have also expressed their displeasure about the issue. But Ruud seems to feel it’s exaggerated.

“You see players complaining about the balls all the time,” he told the Nothing Major podcast. “I’m so tired of it. Come on. Just play.”

“The funny thing for me is that some players come to training about five days in advance. You string about 28 rackets to get the right tension. Then they get to the fourth round and start complaining about the balls. But it was always the same balls.” What’s the point of bringing it up to the referee now? What’s the point of making a drama out of nothing?

Since his elimination in the semi-finals of the French Open in June, Ruud has been in top form. The former world number 2 and three-time Grand Slam finalist has fallen to eighth place in the ATP rankings and suffered another first-round exit at the Swiss Indoors earlier this week.

The Norwegian also failed at the first hurdle at the Shanghai Masters, the Japan Open and the Cincinnati Masters, while he lost his only singles match to Francisco Cerundolo at the Laver Cup last month.