Now-retired tennis star Andy Murray has jokingly warned Casper Ruud about the risks of playing long, side-to-side rallies.
The Norwegian booked his spot in the third round of the US Open with a victory over Gael Monfils, securing a 6-4, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(3) success.
The match lasted two hours and 55 minutes in total, though it was one point in particular that stole the headlines for Ruud.
In his fourth-set tiebreak, the world No. 8 had to run the width of the court on several occasions to eventually win the point in sensational fashion. Monfils sent his opponent racing to the opposite corner of the court on four separate occasions but was unable to capitalise on Ruud’s positioning.
Ruud then put the point to bed with a low strike across the court to leave Monfils with no chance. Following his win, the Norwegian posted a clip of the point online and referred to it as a ‘tribute’ to Murray, who played out a similar sequence of play against Thanasi Kokkinakis at the Australian Open last year and gained a reputation for being a brilliant returner throughout his career.
He wrote on X: “A tribute point to Andy Murray, you’re missed over here
Murray then responded in a light-hearted manner to warn his former rival of the physical impact such rallies will have on his body, saying: “Love to see it, what a point! Word of warning though… keep doing that for a few more years and you’ll end up with hips like me too!”
Murray had two rounds of surgery on his hips previously, and his recurring injury problems played a key role in why he decided to hang up his racket and walk away from tennis.
Ruud will be hoping that he is able to avoid such injuries as the 25-year-old progresses through his career, though he has been struggling with illnesses of late which did leave his attendance at the US Open in doubt.
He came down with the flu whilst competing in the Cincinnati Open and also suffered from a stomach parasite following his semi-final defeat to Alexander Zverev at the French Open. Speaking on the grim illness, Ruud said: “I went home the day after and kept feeling quite bad for a full week and decided to take a few tests after a week of almost, like, lying in bed all the time. I had no appetite, and I was still bothered.
“I took some tests and found out that I had this kind of uncommon small parasite that I had been infected with through not sure where. The most kind of normal place where you can get infected from it is through just unclean water.”
