Ranked eleventh In the stifling heat, Norwegian Casper Ruud defeated Spanish player Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 on Tuesday (Australian time) at the Australian Open in Melbourne.
Ramos-Vinolas had only two aces compared to Ruud’s eleven, therefore it took Ruud just over two hours to eliminate him. In addition, Ruud won 34 of 41 first-service points and saved all four break points that he faced.
Among the Grand Slams, Ruud claimed that the Australian tournament was his favorite, and he believed that a fast start was crucial.
“It’s warm out there (Tuesday), so I didn’t want to spend too much time in the sun,” he said.
Even with such taxing conditions, Ruud added that the atmosphere “makes it all worth it, with the crowd and how good Melbourne is as a city and the fans down here, so it’s great to be back.”
Other seeded players that won their matches on Tuesday included No. 19 Cameron Norrie of Great Britain and 32nd-seeded Czech Jiri Lehecka. Both pulled off sweeps, with Norrie blanking Peru’s Juan Pablo Varillas 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 and Lehecka topping Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-3, 6-2, 6-3.
Lehecka finished with 33 winners in his victory, while Norrie tallied 30.
Tallon Griekspoor, a Dutch player seeded 28th, rallied to beat Russia’s Roman Safiullin 2-6, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4, 7-5 in a match that lasted nearly four hours.
American Alex Michelsen knocked out Australian wild card James McCabe 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. French wild card Arthur Cazaux and countryman Arthur Fils also prevailed on Tuesday, as did qualifier Giulio Zeppieri.
