Casper Ruud's stay in Cincinnati lasted one hour and five minutes. The 11th seed retired hurt on Sunday during his opening match against Christopher O'Connell, the world number 126 who came through qualifying. O'Connell had taken the first set 7-5 and Ruud had just moved 2-1 ahead in the second when the doctor was called to the court. Moments later, the Australian was through to the third round without having to finish the job. No official details about the injury were given right away, but several outlets reported a lower back problem.
The doctor on court, then the end
The match had started as a genuine arm wrestle. Ruud was 5-2 up in the opening set according to match reports, then dropped five straight games and lost it 7-5, then Ruud edged ahead early in the second. That is exactly where it ended. The medical staff came out, the doctor spoke with the Norwegian, and the conclusion followed: he could not go on. According to courtside reports, the physio had already treated the Norwegian's lower back before the start of the second set. Ruud did try to carry on, then stopped a few games later. His camp had not made any statement by Sunday evening.
The timing says plenty. A player does not stop a match he has just started to turn around because of a minor niggle. Ruud was ahead in the set, facing an opponent ranked more than a hundred places below him, and he still walked off after 65 minutes. Until his team shares a diagnosis, the severity is anyone's guess. Silence rarely reassures in these situations.
O'Connell, from a Montreal beating to the third round
O'Connell's week tells the opposite story. Beaten soundly by James Duckworth in Montreal in early August, the Australian arrived in Ohio through qualifying. On Friday he dispatched Kamil Majchrzak 6-4, 7-6 in his first main draw match. On Sunday he held his own against a top 15 player for a set and a half. Nobody wants to win this way, but a qualifier does not turn down a Masters 1000 third round.
A summer that keeps getting heavier
For Ruud, the retirement extends a bruising run. Joao Fonseca knocked him out of Roland Garros in the round of 16, Hubert Hurkacz beat him at Wimbledon, Juan Manuel Cerundolo took him down in Gstaad, then Fonseca stopped him again in the Montreal third round ten days ago, 7-6, 6-3. Since Wimbledon his record reads two wins, two defeats, and now this.
The contrast with his spring is stark. In Paris, Ruud saved two match points against Tommy Paul in the third round and won in five sets, one of the grittiest matches of his fortnight. Cincinnati was supposed to bring back some rhythm on North American hard courts, the surface that decides the end of the season. He leaves with a physical concern and barely any court time.
New York looming
The calendar makes it worse. The injury casts doubt over his participation at the US Open, the final Grand Slam of the season. Flushing Meadows holds a special place in Ruud's career: he reached the final there in 2022, losing to Carlos Alcaraz, still his best run in New York. Arriving diminished, or not at all, would reshape his entire finish to the year.
The coming days will tell whether this was precaution or something deeper. Until the Ruud camp speaks, one thing is certain: on Sunday in Cincinnati, Casper Ruud could not finish his opening match.
