Casper Ruud returned to winning ways on the first day at Wimbledon in what was also his first match on the grass this year.
Ruud, who is seeded eighth in this year’s draw, battled to a 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-4, win over Australia’s Alex Bolt where he dropped serve only once in the match. Despite being a multiple Grand Slam finalist, the Norwegian is yet to find his footing at Wimbledon and has never been beyond the second round so far in his career.
“I’m just happy to go through. Every match win on grass for me, it’s important, and I’m happy about it. So happy to move on.” Ruud told reporters.
Ruud’s preparation for the tournament has been far from ideal. Whilst playing Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals at Roland Garros, it was noticeable that he was feeling unwell. At the time, he was unaware of what the issue was. Tests later revealed that he was infected by a parasite which was likely caused by dirty water. However, it is not known when the infection occurred.
Symptoms he suffered from included a loss of appetite and fatigue which left him bed-bound for more than a week.
“I had this kind of uncommon small parasite that I had been infected with through not sure where, but the most kind of normal place where you can get infected from it is through just unclean water.” He said.
“Symptoms can last and bother you for about two weeks. I was mostly in bed for 11 — 10, 11 days, which was not what I was kind of hoping for. Those days are my kind of days off after a busy stretch of five months in a row with a lot oftournaments.”
Fortunately, Ruud now says he feels close to full fitness and he isn’t dwelling too much on the timing of his illness.
“I’m back for 10, 11, 12 days already eating pretty well, so it’s not a problem anymore.” He stated.
“It was just kind of unlucky that it happened in the semifinals (of the French Open) but at the same time, it would be worse if it happened in the first round.
“It was still a good run for me in Paris. Just a bit unfortunate that I started feeling it there and that I wasn’t able to play any golf for the days to follow.”
Ruud is one of 10 players to win multiple Tour-level titles before Wimbledon this season. He has now won just five Tour-level matches on the grass so far in his career.
Awaiting him in the second round will be Italian veteran Fabio Fognini, who defeated France’s Luca Van Assche 6-1, 6-3, 7-5, earlier in the day.
