Casper Ruud in action at Wimbledon.© AFP
World number four Casper Ruud crashed out in the second round of Wimbledon on Thursday at the hands of British wildcard Liam Broady. Broady held his nerve when trailing two sets to one against the French Open finalist, rallying to win the Centre Court clash 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0. Norway’s Ruud, who has been runner-up at Roland Garros in the past two years, was also the beaten finalist at the US Open last year.
The 24-year-old has never gone beyond the second round at the All England Club. Broady, 142 in the world rankings, took a medical time out at the end of the fourth set to change some bandaging on his wrist.
But the 29-year-old came out fit and firing in the evening sunshine, demolishing Ruud 6-0 in the decider before soaking up the applause from the partisan crowd.
“I would have liked to have played him back home, but Centre Court of Wimbledon will do,” said Broady. “When I went to bed last night, I was having a think of what I’d say if I won the match, but now I’m here I don’t know what to say.
“I said to my mum this morning, she doesn’t like watching, but I said I’ve already won £80,000 ($102,000) this week so she can chill out a bit.”
The British player will play Canadian 26th seed Denis Shapovalov in the third round. “Denis is a mercurial talent, he’s one of the best players in the world as is Casper,” he said. “He’s won junior Wimbledon. He’s an amazing player. With a crowd like this then why not have a go again.”
Teen power
Meanwhile, Russian 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva reached the third round of a Grand Slam for a second successive time at Wimbledon on Thursday. Andreeva was leading Czech 10th seed Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 4-0 when the former French Open champion retired with an injury.
Just as she had done at the French Open, the teenager came through qualifying for Wimbledon and next faces either compatriot Anastasia Potapova or Kaja Juvan of Slovenia. Making her main draw debut, Andreeva, ranked at 102 in the world, saw off China’s Wang Xiyu in the first round in a match that finished late Wednesday.
In Paris last month, it took world number seven Coco Gauff to stop her in three sets in the last 32.
More updates to follow
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