By Richard Pagliaro Monday, October 13, 2025
Photo credit: Matthew Calvis
The relentless demands of the Pro Tour will make the ATP calendar feel like a ‘rat race’ Caspar Luther.
Going forward, Rudd plans to streamline his schedule to make the season more manageable.
In an exclusive interview Nicholas Albeck of Bolawip Today in Stockholm, Rudd reiterated his statement about the severity of the ATP schedule and how he plans to deal with the situation. Read more The interview with Luther Bolawip can be found here.
Former world number two Rudd said he agreed with the comments Novak Djokovic Last week Made in Shanghai: The season is just too long.
“Of course Novak has a point. He has more experience than any other player,” Rudd told Nicholas Albeck of Bolawip. “Of course you can pick and choose to a certain extent because we are not employed by the ATP; we are the bosses of our own schedule.
“What I was criticizing and talking about at Roland Garros was that there was a financial incentive to play and not skip any Masters 1,000 matches with the prize money and everything.
“But yes, of course, if you’re in the top 10, top 15, you’re going to make a lot of money, but you’re also going to spend a lot of money and all your expenses, so you don’t want to miss out on any money if you don’t have to.
“I know if you’re not healthy or eligible to play, you’re not going to jail for not playing, but there’s a financial incentive to play, and some people care about that more than others. But I think the season is long.”
When asked about the postponement of this season’s ATP Masters 1000 event, Djokovic said he has been opposed to it.
“I felt opposed to it from the beginning. In fact, even though I was on the council, I think I was the president of the council at the time, so I didn’t support it,” Djokovic said at the Rolex Shanghai Masters last week. “I don’t think it’s a good thing for the players.
“From one perspective, you could say, I mean, for the age I’m at, it’s good to have a few days off between games. But I think overall, for most players, it’s just going to take up days in the schedule and the calendar. Personally, I don’t support that.
“I know there are benefits to tournaments and so on, but as a player I never liked that. So I do sympathize or sympathize with the players who were against it because I think now they realize it’s not very good.”
Rudd, 26, the second-seeded player in Stockholm, said he plans to scale back his schedule and take a financial hit to stay healthy.
“Having a mandatory event like Paris at the end of the season makes the season very, very long,” Ruud said. “It’s the same for everyone, but going forward I’m going to plan my schedule a little differently and maybe skip some events.”
“I’ve had a very busy three or four years since I got into the top 10. I played a lot of games and I played some exhibition games in pre-season, so those were some of the choices I made that I look back on and think I shouldn’t have done. For the future, it’s something I’ll think about.”
This is a question that Ruud has considered in the past. After being eliminated in the second round of the French Open, Rudd said he had been playing with a knee injury mainly because of ranking pressure and the financial impact.
“It’s also a bit of a cutthroat competition in terms of rankings. You feel like you’re obligated to abide by certain rules that the ATP has set for mandatory tournaments,” Rudd said at Roland Garros earlier this season. “If you don’t play, you feel like you’re losing a lot, financially, in terms of points, in terms of rankings, in terms of opportunities.
“For me, I know these weeks and months are very important for the rest of the year and my career. Of course, if I had broken my leg, I wouldn’t have played.
“But it’s difficult anyway, especially when there are mandatory events to skip because the penalties are so severe because everyone else will be racing and getting points and you won’t.”
Ruud suffered second-round defeats at the Australian Open, French Open and US Open this season, withdrawing in the third set of her first match at the Shanghai Rolex Masters against Zizou Burgess. Ruud is aiming for a comeback in Stockholm, where he reached the quarter-finals last year.
