"You don’t want to miss out on any money" - Casper Ruud responds to Novak Djokovic's take on players' lack of unity amid schedule complaints

Casper Ruud recently shared his thoughts on Novak Djokovic's comments about tennis players lacking unity amid frequent complaints pertaining to the sport's schedule. The Serb had initially commented on the subject after he was asked about it during a press conference at the recently-concluded 2025 Shanghai Masters.

Prior to the former No. 1 and 24-time Major champion issuing his take, high-profile players spanning men's and women's tennis such as Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff had called out the lengthy and grueling nature of the sport's schedule. Their complaints were particularly directed at the rules imposed on players to participate at certain mandatory tournaments.

When asked about it at the Shanghai press conference, Novak Djokovic opined that players can opt to skip the mandatory tournaments. According to the Serb, doing so would only affect players' earnings from the respective bonus systems in place across the ATP Tour and the WTA Tour. The 38-year-old, without specifically mentioning any names, also criticized players who complain about the schedule but sign up for exhibition events.

"I see some players maybe say there are rules imposed and etcetera. But there are rules imposed for bonus. So you can miss the bonus, but it's the choice that you are willing to make if you want to play less. But then there are exhibitions as well that players are signing up for, so it's a little bit contradictory," Djokovic said.

Later in the same press conference, claiming that players aren't "united enough" to defend their own interests, Djokovic added:

"I can say that the players are not united enough. You have to invest the time, you have to invest energy yourself, not your agent, not your team, not your parents, not anybody, yourself, to dedicate yourself to understand how the system works, to understand what are the things that can be done to be reversed, to be improved in terms of the players' interest."

More recently, in an interview with Bolavip, former World No. 2 Casper Ruud responded to Djokovic's take. Ruud, currently ranked 12th in the ATP Tour's singles rankings, acknowledged the Serb's comments, but went on to talk about the "economic motivation" that players have to participate at the mandatory tournaments.

"Of course, Novak has a point. He has more experience than any other player. Sure, you can pick and choose in a way, because we are not hired by the ATP, we are bosses of our own schedule. What I criticized and talked about at the French Open was that there is an economic motivation to play and not skip any Masters 1000s with the bonus and everything," Ruud said.

The Norwegian went on to opine that top-ranked players do have the luxury of skipping tournaments if they prefer, but would rather not given the expenses they incur in terms of travel and paying their team members.

"But yeah, sure, if you are in the top 10, top 15, you make a lot of money, but you also spend a lot of money with all the expenses that you have, so you don’t want to miss out on any money if you don’t need to," Ruud added.

"I think the season is long" - Casper Ruud echoes sentiments of Carlos Alcaraz & others despite what Novak Djokovic said

Casper Ruud (left) in doubles action alongside Carlos Alcaraz (right) at the 2025 Laver Cup (Source: Getty)

Casper Ruud concluded his response to Novak Djokovic's comments by firmly stating that the tennis season is lengthy despite players having the option to skip tournaments if they aren't healthy or ineligible.

"I know that if you are not healthy or not eligible to play, you won’t be put in jail if you don’t play, but there is also an economic incentive to play, and some people care more about it than others. But I think the season is long," Ruud told Bolavip.

In men's tennis, Carlos Alcaraz has arguably been the most vocal when it comes to criticizing the tennis schedule. However, the Spaniard isn't alone. Alexander Zverev has also called out the schedule, as have the likes of Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jack Draper, Alex de Minaur and Ruud himself.