US Open: Zhang knocks out Ruud, Tsitsipas makes early exit

NEW YORK: Casper Ruud, the 2022 U.S. Open runner-up, was eliminated when Zhang Zhizhen became the first Chinese man to beat a player in the top five of the ATP rankings.

Zhang upset the No. 5 seed 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 0-6, 6-2 to reach the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the second time. It was his second five-set victory to open this tournament after he lost his first four five-setters.

He wasn’t discouraged by those previous losses, with the breakthrough finally coming on Monday when he outlasted J.J. Wolf in 4 1/2 hours.

“Try to just keep playing and keep believing yourself every single time,” Zhang said. “(Even in) tough moments, still try to believe yourself. In the end, you’ll make it.”

Zhang became the first Chinese man to compete in the main draw at Wimbledon in the professional era when he qualified in 2021. He qualified last year at the U.S. Open, joining Wu Yibing as the first men from their country in the main draw of the year’s final Grand Slam tournament.

The 26-year-old Zhang reached the third round of the French Open in June before falling to Ruud, who had been to the finals in three of the last six Grand Slam events.

“I mean, I’m not sitting here super disappointed with things that I could have done better or my level, but at the most important moments he was the better player. He stepped up,” Ruud said. “That was different from Paris. I think in Paris I was the one who really stepped up when I had to. It’s a different surface, of course. But he has a great serve, beautiful backhand, and forehand, also. When it’s on, it’s on and really dangerous.”

Ruud, who lost to Carlos Alcaraz last year in Flushing Meadows, is the highest-ranked Norwegian in the history of the ATP rankings, which dates back to 1973. He had reached No. 2 last year and is currently No. 5.

But after dropping the fourth set in just 23 minutes, Zhang broke Ruud’s serve to open the final set, adding a second for a 4-1 lead.

Zhang will face Rinky Hijikata of Australia in the third round, and Ruud believes he can keep on going.

“I was impressed, in a way, how he played,” Ruud said. “He’s going to be a threat for many years.”

Elsewhere, Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas said his recent form was simply “not good enough” as his poor run continued with yet another early exit from Flushing Meadows on Wednesday when Swiss qualifier Dominic Stricker stunned the seventh seed in the US Open second round in a five-set thriller.

Tsitsipas reached the Australian Open final this year but has never made it past the third round in six main draw appearances in New York and he struggled against Stricker’s massive serve and booming forehand before bowing out 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-7(5), 7-6(6), 6-3.

Bopanna-Ebden make winning start

India’s Rohan Bopanna and his Australian men’s doubles partner Matthew Ebden advanced to the second round of the US Open with a straight-set win over Christopher O’Connell and Aleksandar Vukic here. Bopanna and Ebden, who are seeded sixth, brushed aside the Australian duo 6-4 6-2 in less than an hour to win their first round match comfortably on Wednesday.

The 43-year-old Bopanna and 35-year-old Ebden converted three of their five break points while giving no break opportunity to their rivals. The two had a first serve percentage of 72 per cent. The Indo-Australian pair, which reached the Wimbledon semifinals, earned the first break in game nine to go up 5-4. The two found an early break in the second set and quickly raced to 5-2 before sealing the tie.

Bopanna, a US Open runner-up in 2010, and Ebden will meet the winner of the first round match between USA’s Aleksandar Kovacevic and Nicolas Moreno De Alboran, and Kazakhstan’s Andrey Golubev and Russia’s Roman Safiullin.