Casper Ruud stated that the hard-court season in East Asia this season was not really what he had hoped for after seeing his chances of qualifying for the ATP Finals faltered with a defeat in the second round of the Japan Open, Tokyo 2023 season against Marcos Giron.
Since being eliminated from the second round of the US Open, the Norwegian tennis player lost to the Spanish tennis player, Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals of the China Open, Beijing and lost to the Hungarian national player, Fabian Marozsan in the last 16 of the Shanghai Open. He then became the second seed at the Japan Open, but lost in straight sets to world number 79, Giron.
The Norwegian tennis player is currently in tenth position in the ATP Race To Turin standings, 295 points adrift of the Danish tennis player, Holger Rune, who is in the bottom position of the standings, namely eighth position.
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Reflecting on the defeat in Tokyo, where he lost in the first round of the 2022 season, Casper Ruud stated, “I think this season went better than last season, so you can say, I played better than last season, for sure.”
“I tried to play with the same level of play as I did in the previous match, maybe I wasn’t able to do that, but it doesn’t matter, it’s not always easy to transition from one day to another with different opponents. I wasn’t ready enough to face his game and handle his game.”
Meanwhile, American tennis player Giron will duel against Canadian tennis player Felix Auger Aliassime in the quarter-finals of the Japan Open.
Auger Aliassime only won two of the last 11 matches he played before taking part in the Japan Open, but he looked convincing when he beat Austrian Sebastian Ofner in the second round.
“I needed a result like this,” said Auger Aliassime. “I trust my game and I trust myself that I have what it takes to win at this level. I’ve done that before, but it’s about doing it, having a lot of confidence, and a positive mindset. I am happy that my level of play has translated onto the playing field after the last few months.”
