Norwegian second seed Casper Ruud battled by to the Australian Open second spherical on Tuesday as he kicked off a marketing campaign that might see him change into world primary.
The 24-year-old floor down Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-6 (6), 6-7 (5), 6-3 on Margaret Court Arena in a match that completed after 1:00am.
He will subsequent play American Jenson Brooksby who toppled Australian Christopher O’Connell.
“It’s been a long day,” stated the world quantity three Ruud, whose build-up suffered an surprising blow when he misplaced his first match on the Auckland Classic warm-up match.
“I’m very eager to hopefully have a good tournament and this was a good start, a tough one.
“Tomas played well, very aggressive, but I was able to come back and stay strong towards the end, so very happy,” he added.
Ruud missed final yr’s occasion with an ankle harm, however recovered to get pleasure from a breakthrough 2022, reaching the ultimate of each the French and US Opens.
He had an opportunity to prime the rankings when he took on Carlos Alcaraz within the Flushing Meadows last, however the Spanish teenager gained in 4 units to take the title and with it the primary spot.
Alcaraz shouldn’t be in Melbourne as he nurses an harm and three gamers may take the highest rating from him by lifting the trophy.
They embrace Serbian famous person Novak Djokovic, Greek third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and Ruud.
According to the governing physique ATP, Ruud can even change into world primary by merely reaching the ultimate, so long as neither Djokovic nor Tsitsipas win the title.
If none of these situations play out, the reign of Alcaraz will proceed.