Andy Roddick does not want to definitively blame the ATP schedule for what happened to Holger Rune, but still had a very strong message for the ATP authorities as he believes their calendar is not doing a single favor to any player's health out there.
Early in the second set of his Stockholm semifinal, a concerned Rune stopped play and complained about hearing a crack in his Achilles tendon area. After a visit from the physio, the world No. 10 teared up and retired moments later. The 22-year-old couldn't put any strength on his injured leg while exiting the court. When the results of the scans came in, it was the worst-case scenario as the Dane's Achilles was "fully broken on the proximal part."
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The harshest critics of the schedule - including certain ATP stars such as Taylor Fritz and Jack Draper - instantly used Rune's injury as an argument for their claims that the current schedule is unbearable.
Roddick: This schedule is helping absolutely nobody's health
"It doesn't mean that every injury is because of the schedule, and we'd be absolute idiots not to say why can't we create a schedule for the players' health long term. I'm not saying that Holger did this definitely because of the schedule. I can say definitively this schedule is helping absolutely nobody's health," Roddick said on his podcast.
Roddick may have avoided definitely blaming the ATP schedule for what happened to Rune, but the Dane's mother did exactly that.
There have simply been too many mandatory tournaments. Tournaments that the players are obliged to participate in, and where they are severely penalised financially by not playing them all. The players simply do not have time to recover properly throughout the season," Aneke Rune told Danish publication BT.
After having surgery, Rune is expected to be out of action for at least six months.
