Madrid Open: Matteo Arnaldi stuns Casper Ruud to reach 3rd round

MADRID: Matteo Arnaldi on Friday earned his first Top 10 win as he stunned World No. 4 Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-4 to reach the third round at the Madrid Open.

He struck 35 winners and hit with great depth to consistently push Ruud back and inflict a ninth defeat of the season on the Norwegian.

"I don't know what to say. In Barcelona, I was playing very well. But coming here it is different. The ball bounces so high and I didn't like it at first. I struggled a bit. But today, I don't know, maybe the stadium, maybe the pressure on him, but I played the best match of my life," ATP.COM quoted Arnaldi as saying.

Following his third tour-level victory of the year, the 22-year-old, who participated in the 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals, has moved up nine ranks to No. 96 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

After winning his second ATP Challenger Tour championship of the year in Spain earlier this month, Arnaldi rose to a career-high ranking of No. 102.

Arnaldi will look to continue his dream run against Jaume Munar. The Spaniard advanced after Tallon Griekspoor was forced to retire after Munar had clinched the first set 7-6(3).

In Estoril earlier this month, Ruud won his tenth tour-level championship, but he has had trouble regaining his best form for 2023.

The 24-year-old lost in the second round of the Australian Open and hasn't made it past the third round in any of his four ATP Masters 1000 matches.