Ruud beaten as Open loses another top seed

MELBOURNE, Australia — Oh-so-close to completing a straight-set upset of No 2 seed Casper Ruud at the Australian Open, Jenson Brooksby frittered away three match points, sat down at a changeover and began yelling at himself.

"How?! How?! God!!"

His face was flush, his emotions unhidden, his game unraveling.Soon enough, that set slipped away, as Ruud's confidence seemed to surge and Brooksby's collapse momentarily continued. And then, in a blink, Brooksby was back in charge, taking command immediately in the fourth set along the way to a 6-3, 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-2 victory over Ruud and a spot in a surprisingly American-filled third round at Melbourne Park.

"I was getting a little more frustrated out there that I didn't close it out, and my mentality was changing a little bit," said the 39th-ranked Brooksby, who is making his Australian Open debut. "Those are the situations you have to handle sometimes in matches, and you're going to face. I think the biggest question is: How do you respond? I just told myself to reset."

So leave it to a pair of 20-something Californians to rid the men's bracket of its two highest seeded players: Brooksby, 22, delivered his unexpected triumph at the same stage and in the same stadium that Mackenzie McDonald, 27, defeated No 1 seed and defending champion Rafael Nadal a day earlier. That makes this the first Grand Slam tournament since the 2002 Australian Open that the Nos 1-2 seeds lost before the end of the second round.

These exits are a big deal. Nadal owns a men's-record 22 Grand Slam titles. Ruud was the runner-up at the French Open to Nadal last June and at the US Open to Carlos Alcaraz last September.

Also a big deal: The progress of US men through the year's first major championship. None has won a Grand Slam title since Andy Roddick at the 2003 US Open.

By reaching the third round, Brooksby joined countrymen Ben Shelton, Tommy Paul and J.J. Wolf, who also won Thursday, along with McDonald, No 16 Frances Tiafoe and No 29 Sebastian Korda, who all won Wednesday.

Shelton beat qualifier Nicolas Jarry of Chile 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3), 7-5; Paul came back to edge No 30 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain 6-2, 2-6,6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4; and Wolf breezed past No 23 Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.

"A lot of Americans doing really well right now, and we're all pushing each other," said Brooksby, who now will face Paul. "Just looking forward to the next one."

There was also a big win for an American woman Thursday: 21-year-old qualifier Katie Volynets defeated No 9-seeded Veronika Kudermetova of Russia 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.

Volynets next plays China's 23rd seed Zhang Shuai, who demolished Croatia's Petra Martic, 6-3, 6-3.

Elsewhere, No 5 Aryna Sabalenka improved her 2023 record to 6-0 by topping Shelby Rogers 6-3, 6-1 after trailing 3-1 early, and No 19 Ekaterina Alexandrova beat Taylor Townsend 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.

"I literally have the chills, because the fans here are just incredible," said Volynets, who reached the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. "I've never played in a stadium this packed and with that many people keeping the energy up for me. It was awesome."

Brooksby was supposed to enter the Australian Open a year ago but came down with COVID-19 the day before he was supposed to fly overseas.

"Hopefully this is the first of many, many good years here to come," Brooksby said.

His unusual playing style, including his two-handed backhand volleys, and ability to track down opponent's shots, were trouble for Ruud, who took a medical timeout after the second set because of a bothersome abdominal muscle.

"He was annoyingly good today," said Ruud, a 24-year-old Norwegian coached by his father, a former pro player.

The biggest problem for Brooksby was closing this one out. He held a trio of match points while trying to serve for the victory at 5-3 in the third set but could not cash any of them in.

Ruud raced through the end of that set, but Brooksby righted himself in the fourth, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. Brooksby finished things off 1 hour, 15 minutes after his first chance.

When the match ended, Brooksby said, "The first thing that popped to my mind was I was just proud of my mental resolve just to stay focused out there."

Nadal out for 6 to 8 weeks

Spanish world No 2 Nadal said on Thursday he will be sidelined for up to eight weeks after suffering a left hip flexor injury during his shock exit from the Australian Open.

The 36-year-old wrote on Twitter that scans showed a moderate muscle tear.

"I have carried out medical tests after the defeat yesterday," the 22-time Grand Slam winner said, adding that they showed "a grade-two lesion in the iliacus psoas of the left leg".

"Normal recovery time six to eight weeks," he said, adding that he would now rest and undergo anti-inflammatory physiotherapy.

The projected timeline puts his participation at the ATP 1000 Indian Wells and Miami events in March in doubt, which would see him plunge down the rankings.

Nadal will more likely target being ready for the clay-court season in mid-April, leading into the French Open in May where he will be chasing a 15th title.

The defending champion slumped out of the Australian Open on Wednesday to 65th-ranked American Mackenzie McDonald in the second round — his worst Grand Slam result in seven years.

Agencies