ATP
AO Men: Day 4 review
The Australian Open suffered an upset body blow on Thursday as second seed Casper Ruud was routed 6-3, 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-2 by unfancied American Jenson Brooksby.
The second-round shocker left Stefanos Tsitsipas on third as the top remaining seed after holder and tournament No. 1 Rafael Nadal was knocked out on Wednesday by Mackenzie McDonald of the US.
Ruud saved three match points in the third set to stretch out the encounter; but Brooksby, ranked 65t,, finally prevailed on his fifth as he won the fourth set to wrap up business.
Ruud was already plotting strategy with his team after the shock to the system for a two-time Grand Slam finalist who missed playing here a year ago due to an ankle injury in the run-up period.
“I ended up getting broken a bit too many times (nine),” the Norwegian said. “That’s was maybe the key to part of the reason why I lost today.
“I didn’t serve precisely enough; Jensonis gonna make it tough for you if you don’t serve well.”
The American outsider was able to put aside his failure to close out a straight-sets result, taking another hour and a quarter to finally post the upset win.
“Sometimes in these three out of five situations you can get a little more tired mentally and physically for sure,” the winner said.
“I was getting a little more frustrated that I didn’t close it out, and my mentality was changing a little bit.
“The biggest question is how do you respond… I just told myself to reset, keep doing what I was doing in the start of the fourth, and just not let the end of the third just change how I play going forward.”
Ruud will carry on with his plan to use much of February as a training month after filling part of the off-season with an xhibition tour of South America with Nadal.
“I look forward to having some time off, spending it at home, getting ready for hopefully another good and long year on tour when I start again,” he said.
The Scandinavian added that he and his team – coached by his father, a former ATP player – will consider how to better utilise the brief tennis off season in future.
“We will consider what we will do in December this year, and (what is) the right way to prepare for the Australian Open..
“There are many factors that come into play. I’ve done what I felt was the right preparation but wasn’t able to perform and win as many matches as I hoped here this year.”
Fifth-seeded Andrey Rublev spanked Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-3 as the six-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist reached the third round.
He will now play Brit Dan Evans, a 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 winner over France’s Jeremy Chardy.
“It was a good day, the conditions were pretty tough,” Evans said. “I’m so happy to get out in three straight sets. It was a pretty solid performance.”
Two-time champion Casper Ruud had to work for more than two and a half hours to overcome Jaime Faria, the Portuguese who put out Stan Wawrinka in the first round at the Gstaad Swiss Open on Thursday.
Faria was riding the momentum from Tuesday’s defeat of three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka, set to retire this season and beaten in an opening match at his home venue.
Faria had his eye on a second upset as he faced Ruud, who lifted the trophy at this elite alpine village in 2021 and 2022.
Ruud ahd to dodge a bullet and mount a comeback to get through the second-round test against the Portuguese.
After dropping the opening set in a tiebreaker, Ruud played patiently as Faria saved five break points in the sixth game of the second set before failing on the sixth.
Ruud then pulled away for a 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2 victory, his first since Roland Garros.
“Sometimes it is hard to say when you get a good feeling and you start to win some games in a row,” the winner said.
“You try from the first game to the last, but suddenly something clicked in the middle of the second for me, luckily.”
He added: “I had to really fight hard and if I played one bad game in the second and he serves well, it could be over and it would be time to go home. But luckily I can extend the stay.”
The Scandinavian could join Spaniards Sergi Bruguera and Alex Corretja as three-time winners in the Alps, with Ruud now standing 10-1 here over his career.
Stefanost Tsitsipas said he slept soundly prior to finishing off a darkness-interrupted match on Thursday as he eliminated local Jerome Kym at the Gstaad Swiss Open.
The Greek who once cracked third in the world and the 186th-ranked Swiss returned to the clay after darkness on Wednesday night left them hanging at 5-all in the third set.
Tsitsipas revved up his game from the resumption to emerge into the quarter-finals 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5).
The second seed now standing 85th in the world after several poor seasons and a split with his father as his coach, said getting his rest was not a problem after the interruption.
“It was strange going to bed and not being finished. I visualised what I wanted to do, my shot patterns.
“It worked out pretty well.
“I had a good night’s sleep, I was not too stressed and I recovered to get ready for the continuation.”
After saving break points in the first game on Thursday, Tsitsipas triumphed in the final-set tiebreaker
“I’m relieved I was able to save a couple of break points.. I put my game together and made it )victory) happen again.”
The Greek now faces off against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech for a semi-final spot.
“I’m expecting a lot of big serves, the altitude (1050m) helps. I’ll try to build consistency around my own serve.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas was handed a reprieve due to fading light with his second round match at the Swiss Open Gstaad stopped with the Greek deadlocked with local Jerome Kym 6-4, 6-7 (2), 5-5.
The math had to be halted as night fell and electronic linecalling computers could not read the path of the ball on the clay in contrast to humans who could have carried on for a few additional minutes..
The 27-year-old Tsitsipas was taking the worst of it in the concluding stage after a promising start.against a journeyman opponent ranked 186.
Tsitsipas, his ranking down to 85th after once standing third in the world, lashed out verbally in the last few games, apparently frustrated with his racquet reactions.
The Greek was quick to make his point of an overnight stoppage to the chair umpire while Kym – who reached 5-all with a love service hold – left the court with a defiant fist pump for his public in this alpine resort village.
The cutoff came after just over two hours of play, with the contest to be concluded on Thursday. The winner reaches the Friday quarter-finals.
Tsitsipas produced his last notable result in April with a fourth-round showing at the Madrid Masters,
He is aiming for his second quarter-final of the season after Doha in February and his 2025 Barcelona 15 months ago.
Tsitsipas stands 10-1 vs. players ranked outside the top 100 this season with a sole loss to No. 104 Italian Matteo Arnaldi at the Roland Garros second round.
History repeats for Argentine spoiler in Gstaad
Ruud survives a scare to secure Gstaad quarters
Tsitsipas finishes off Kym after overnight pause
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