“I gave it all,” Casper Ruud assesses his performance after second round exit at the Australian Open
Casper Ruud did everything he could to win the second-round match against Jenson Brooksby at the Australian Open 2023 but in vain.
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Casper Ruud (Image Credit: Norway Posts English)
Casper Ruud reached and played in two Grand Slam finals last season. He also played the Championship match of the ATP Finals 2022 against eventual winner Novak Djokovic. However, he could not win any of these crucial matches.
He entered into the Australian Open in 2023 with the sole motive to win maiden Grand Slam title in his career. He could have walked straight to the top of the ATP rankings if he would have won this tournament. However, that was never destined to be.
The World No.3 went down against World No.39 Jenson Brooksby 3-6, 5-7, 7(7)-6(4), 2-6 in the second-round of the Australian Open 2023. He also had to take a medical timeout because of a slight abdominal pain after the second set. However, he came back stronger in the third set and won it. But could not win the fourth and decisive set.
The Norwegian may have lost, but he is not sad. He is optimistic that this loss, too, has many learnings for him. He also applauded his opponent.
“I gave it my all, but in the fourth set especially wasn’t enough. The first two sets were sort of closer, but I ended up getting broken a bit too many times. I will try to learn from it. I think that he played great today,” Casper Ruud said.
Casper Ruud’s injury scare
Casper Ruud began his 2023 season by participating in the United Cup 2023. However, he could not help his country Norway, win the mixed-gender format tournament. Then he played at the 2023 ASB Classic tournament in Auckland, New Zealand. However, he was defeated by Serbia’s Laslo Dere in the first round of the competition.
The World No.3 had to struggle against Tomas Machac in the first round of the Australian Open 2023 to win. He did beat him 6-3, 7(8)-6(6), 6(5)-7(7), 6-3 in a match that lasted for more than 3 hours. However, in the second-round Jenson Brooksby proved to be more than a match for the Norwegian. It is possible the abdomen pain may have played its part in his loss. But the 24-year-old denied it by calling it ‘nothing serious’.
“It’s something that has actually been with me for around two years. It just sort of tightens up my left side from serving. It didn’t affect me a lot, but I felt it a little bit in the second set. I hope it’s nothing serious,” he added further.
Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from the first Grand Slam of the season citing injury reasons even before the start of the tournament, and the early exit of defending champion Rafael Nadal gave him an extraordinary chance to climb to the top position by winning this competition. However, he failed to capitalize on it. Now, if Stefanos Tsitsipas or Novak Djokovic win this tournament, either of them will become World No.1.
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Abhar Indorkar
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