Casper Ruud fumes at ‘joke’ Paris Masters schedule after Jannik Sinner given 14-hour turnaround

Casper Ruud has hit out at the “joke” decision to put Jannik Sinner on the day session at the Paris Masters on Thursday.

The fourth-seeded Italian beat Mackenzie McDonald on Wednesday in a three-set battle that did not finish until 02:37 local time.

Despite the extraordinarily late finish, Sinner’s last-16 clash with Alex de Minaur was scheduled fourth on Centre Court on Thursday’s order of play.

That match is slated to start around 17:00, just over 14 hours after he clinched victory over McDonald – a decision that infuriated world No. 8 Ruud.

The Norwegian wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Bravo ATP Tour way to help one of the best players in the world recover and be as ready as possible when he finished his previous match at 2:37 am this morning.

“14.5 hours to recover… what a joke.”

Sinner, who is chasing a second ATP 1000 title of the season in Paris, beat McDonald 6-7(6) 7-5 6-1 in a match lasting two hours and 16 minutes.

The 22-year-old will now have to battle through the tiredness after being denied a slot in the evening session.

Instead, top seed Novak Djokovic faces Tallon Griekspoor before Daniel Altmaier takes on Holger Rune in the two evening matches on Centre Court.

“I lost the first set in a bad way and I’m still getting used to the conditions, but I’m happy about the win and to be in the next round,” Sinner said after his win.

“It was tough going on court after midnight, but it was nice to still have some crowd watching.”

Ruud is out of the event in France following a second-round defeat to Francisco Cerundolo.

But the Norwegian was not the only figure from the world of tennis to express their disappointment with the organisation.

Rennae Stubbs, a former world No. 1 doubles player and ex-coach of Serena Williams, also spoke out on social media, suggesting that the ATP and WTA Tours join together.

She wrote on X: “Finishing at almost 3am at a Masters 1000!!!! WTH ATP Tour!!! What is happening! It’s indoors!!!! How is this possible!!?????

“Man I think it’s time someone took over the ATP AND WTA tours! Anyone out there that thinks they could do this better??? Join tours!??”