Casper Ruud isn't enjoying the best part of his career and he's actually very far from it as he suffered another shocking loss, this time at the 2023 Madrid Open.
The 24-year-old Norwegian was very close to reaching the world no. 1 spot last year, but in 2023, he managed to collect only 600 points and he's currently ranked 21st in the ATP Race. Ruud surprisingly lost many times this year, but the most recent surprises came in Monte Carlo, where he was eliminated by qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff, and then in Barcelona, where he lost to Francisco Cerundolo.
But ahead of the 2023 Madrid Open, Ruud was eager to prove himself and remind everyone that he didn't forget how to play tennis. He was set to play against one of the qualifiers in the second round of the ATP 1000 tournament, and since Matteo Arnaldi from Italy beat Benoit Paire from France in the first, the Norwegian could prepare himself for a match against the 22-year-old Italian.
Although Matteo Arnaldi is ranked only 105th on the ATP Tour, he's one of the rising stars of Italian tennis and so Ruud couldn't underestimate him. And he did that well early on as he could go into a one-break lead already after the third game, but he didn't use his chance.
On the other hand, Arnaldi used his first break point in the next game, but he couldn't keep his advantage as the Norwegian broke back in the next game. The third seed could go then into the lead for the first time in the match, but again, he couldn't use his chance and a few disastrous minutes would follow for Ruud.
Since the scoreboard showed 4-3 40-40 in the first set, Ruud lost the following 17 points and soon found himself 3-6, 0-2, and 0-40 down. And even though Arnaldi couldn't add another break in that game, one break from the first game was enough for him to win the match as he kept his advantage throughout the set.
After an hour and 35 minutes, the 22-year-old Italian recorded the biggest win of his career by beating world no. 4 Casper Ruud. On the other hand, Ruud will now face a possibility of dropping already to the fifth place in case of a minor success of Stefanos Tsitsipas, who is currently fifth.
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