Casper Ruud continued his impressive run at the Italian Open by racking up a comfortable 6-3, 6-1 win over Lorenzo Musetti in the R16. But his victory was overshadowed by the latter’s physical struggles during the match. Musetti called for a medical timeout when he was 0-3 down in the second set as there appeared to be a problem in his left thigh, which was already bandaged. The 24-year-old continued to struggle on the court and would soon end up losing the match. However, Ruud showed true grace after the match and shared a heartfelt three-word message for Musetti.

“Feel better Lore,” Rudd wrote these words on the camera after securing his victory against the Italian. Talking about his opponent’s injury, he remarked how Musetti was struggling physically in his previous match as well.

“Saw in the previous match that he (Musetti) was struggling with something, and you see the tape there and that’s the brutality of tennis. You try to just do anything you can against your opponent and take it to your advantage and you’re not quite sure you know is he going to play full, what state is he on, so it’s easy to think too much about him and not about myself or yourself and I think I did that quite well today,” Ruud said during his post-match interview.

This loss has multiple consequences for Musetti. It hasn’t only resulted in his exit from the Italian Open, but he will also drop out of the top 10 on the rankings. Additionally, there are major concerns regarding his fitness heading into the French Open that will commence from May 24. It remains to be seen if Musetti will be able to improve his fitness by the time the Grand Slam rolls in.

If he fails to participate in the French Open, then his ranking can plummet even further. This is because Musetti had made it to the semifinals last year before he was eliminated by eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz in four sets. Thus, the Italian will lose a significant number of points if he decides to miss the Grand Slam.

On the other hand, Ruud has now qualified for the quarterfinals of the Italian Open. The Norwegian hasn’t dropped a set in the three matches that he has played so far and is looking as one of the main contenders to win the prestigious title in Rome.