Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Live
Ruud stumbles on day of upsets at Australian Open
MUMBAI: No 1 and 2 seeds—out. The 8th seed—gone.
You’d think we’re on about top women’s singles seeds tumbling out yet again in the initial rounds of a Grand Slam. This time, though, it’s the men biting the early dust.
Three of the top 10 male singles players have crashed out from the second round of the 2023 Australian Open, with Norwegian second seed Casper Ruud and American eighth seed Taylor Fritz following defending champion Rafael Nadal through the exit door from Melbourne Park on Thursday. Ruud, the world No 3 with two Grand Slam finals in 2022, was largely outplayed in his 3-6, 5-7, 7-6(4), 2-6 by American Jenson Brooksby. Later, an in-form Fritz couldn’t get past Australian wild card Alexei Popyrin living his “dream” in a 6-7(4), 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-2 victory.
The other top men’s seeds aren’t exactly sailing smooth either. Novak Djokovic lost a set to qualifier Enzo Couacaud (the first time the Serb has lost a set to a qualifier or lucky loser since 2009 at his most productive Slam) while sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz were both stretched to five sets in their respective second-round contests. Alexander Zverev, the 12th seed returning from that horrific ankle injury last year, was also dumped out by lucky loser Michael Mmoh on Thursday.
Big names and top seeds falling away or struggling to find their feet in the first few rounds has been a trend at Slams among the women, especially in the last couple of years.
At the 2022 Roland Garros, seven of the 10 highest seeded women’s players had been ousted by the time the third round began. At this Australian Open, seven are still around— world No 2 Ons Jabeur’s 1-6, 7-5, 1-6 defeat to Marketa Vondrousova the real big upset—with contenders like Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula and Aryna Sabalenka, among others, starting strong.
That the upset bug has hit the (DEN x9)
Djokovic (SRB x4)
Alexei Popyrin (AUS)
(USA)
Jenson Brooksby (USA)
Andy Murray (UK)
Magda Linette (POL)
Caroline Garcia (FRA x4)
Aryna Sabalenka
Belinda (BLR x5)
Bencic (SUI x12)
Marketa Vondrousova (CZE)
men in the hot 2023 Australian summer could also potentially be a glimpse to the post-Big Three era in men’s tennis. Roger Federer, Nadal, Djokovic—and even Andy Murray before his hip troubles—were a constant in the first week of Slams. In the last decade, Federer has tasted just one defeat on or before the second round of a Slam, the same as Djokovic. Nadal, continued to be hampered by frequent injury issues, has had five. These giants have been individually and collectively difficult to dislodge
Andrey Rublev (RUS x5)
Holger Rune
Novak
early at the big stage, no matter the game and grit of the player on the other side of the court.
If this Australian Open is an indicator, that gap between the top contenders and the multiple challengers in the early rounds appears to be narrowing among the men too.
As the 24-year-old Ruud pointed out after his defeat on Thursday: “I’ve realised there are, in my eyes, so many players these days that you’ll have a chance to beat many players on the Tour, and there’s a chance you will lose to many players on the Tour.”
There are overlapping factors behind the exits of the three men too. Like Nadal with his hip, the third-ranked Ruud was affected by an abdominal issue in his four-set outing against Brooksby, although he refused to pinpoint that as the reason for his defeat. Ruud and Nadal also had similar buildups to the Australian Open. The two played exhibition matches in South America before the United Cup, where Nadal lost both his matches and Ruud one of his two before crashing out from the first round in Auckland. Not near enough game time or match wins coming into the season-opening Slam.
Ruud, more at home on clay, had a brilliant 2022 season winning three ATP titles, reaching the final at Roland Garros and US Open as well as the seasonending ATP Finals. So did Fritz, who won titles at Indian Wells, Eastbourne and Tokyo to break into the top 10. The American also led Team USA to the United Cup title earlier this month but, like Ruud, couldn’t carry the momentum of last year into this season’s curtain raiser.