Casper Ruud thought Roland Garros heat would end him, then the thought of ‘Sincaraz’ pulled him through

PARIS—There was a point in Casper Ruud’s opening match Monday at Roland Garros where the two-time finalist thought he would soon be on his way back to Norway.

Five match points had come and gone against Roman Safiullin in the third set, but the dizziness and cramps he felt due to a rising body temperature had kicked in well before Ruud was a point away from reaching the finish line—and getting inside to cool off.

“It started kind of sneaking up on me towards the middle of the third set,” he would tell press. “I think when I broke him to 3-1, I started feeling a tiny bit of tendency of cramp in my calves, and I was thinking, ‘Oh, shoot, here we go.’”

Physically, I'm proud because I never really gave in. I didn't give up. Casper Ruud

Up two sets and 5-2, Ruud dropped the next 11 games. Barely moving and struggling with his breathing, the Oslo native was unable to produce much of anything.

“Obviously 5-3, 40-15 up, you think you have it. Then I made five first serves in a row, and he played five good points, and I end up missing a forehand winner on the break point for him. That was the toughest service break I've experienced in a while.”

Yet he refused to throw in the towel, and at the tail end of the fourth set, Safiullin himself took a medical timeout to receive treatment in his lower abdomen area. Between that stoppage in play and the two competitors exiting the court ahead of the fifth set, it provided Ruud the time needed to get himself up again, and, ultimately survive a brutal test for a 6-2, 7-6 (5), 5-7, 0-6, 6-2 victory.

The 28-year-old shared that he inspired to stay the course and see what happens by the past performances of the ATP's Top 2-ranked players earlier this year at the Australian Open.

“I also thought of Jannik and Carlos this year at Australia when Jannik, in particular, was struggling in the heat. Then it cooled off with the roof closing, and he was able to regain energy,” recalled Ruud.

“A little bit the same with Carlos’ semifinal with Sascha. He looked pretty dead for a while and then lost third and fourth, and then somehow regained and came back in the fifth.”

Recovery will be paramount for Ruud, with temperatures expected to stay above 90 throughout the first week of the clay-court major. In the second round, the 15th seed meets Hamad Medjedovic.

“It feels like a mental win. At times in the fourth I was thinking, I have to book the flight home tomorrow, and I'll be watching from home on the sofa the next two weeks,” he said. “Luckily, that's not the case.”