Casper Ruud out of Australian Open 2022 with ankle injury, replaced by lucky loser Roman Safiullin
Casper Ruud pulled out of the 2022 Australian Open before his first-round fixture against World No. 74 Alex Molcan on Tuesday due to an ankle injury. The eighth-seeded Norwegian revealed that he rolled his ankle in practice a couple of days ago and could not put pressure on it.
"I have to pull out of this year's Australian Open due to an ankle injury. Two days ago in practice I rolled or twisted my ankle," Ruud said. "I hoped that I would be able to recover and be able to step on court today with the two days that I had. I tried everything I could to be ready, but unfortunately I've decided that I'm not a hundred percent ready. That's the final decision."
Update ðŸ˜
World number 8 Casper Ruud withdraws from the #AusOpen with an ankle injuries. Twisted his ankle in practice.
"I'm not at 100% and this is the best decision".
He will be replaced by Roman Safiulin, who enters the main draw as a 5th (!) lucky loser. Will face Molcan. https://t.co/kg1w60Jdu6
Ruud had a good lead-up to the 2022 Australian Open, winning two of his three matches in the ATP Cup. The Norwegian reached the fourth round at the tournament last year, meaning he will lose 180 ranking points following his withdrawal.
The Norwegian will hope to return for the South American swing in February.
Ruud was replaced by Russian lucky loser Roman Safiullin in the men's draw. Safiullin had an impressive ATP Cup campaign, defeating Arthur Rinderknech and James Duckworth to help Russia reach the semifinals.
Casper Ruud was in line to meet Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Australian Open
Casper Ruud was one of the top seeds in the third quarter of the men's singles draw at the 2022 Australian Open. He would have been expected to defeat Molcan in the first round, which could have set up a second-round meeting with Pablo Andujar.
The Norwegian was projected to face local favorite Alex de Minaur in the third round, ahead of a potential meeting with Italian sensation Jannik Sinner.
Last year's Roland Garros runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas was Ruud's expected quarterfinal opponent. The Greek could now instead face Sinner if the seeds hold up.
#8 Casper Ruud leaves his open section even more open, so we could have some surprises.
Sinner favorite to reach QF; Basilashvili, de Minaur, and Murray are also in that eighth of #AusOpen draw.
And lucky loser Roman Safiullin, who takes Ruud's place, played well at ATP Cup.
Also check out: Updated WTA WoMen's Tennis Rankings