Casper Ruud Beaten To Boost Djokovic Title Charge At Australian Open

Casper Ruud exits the Australian Open after he was defeated by Jenson Broosksby on Thursday, another boost to Novak Djokovic’s bid for a 22nd Grand Slam title.

Second-seeded Ruud needed a medical timeout and was always struggling against hard-hitting Jenson Brooksby, the Norwegian going down 6-3, 7-5, 6-7 (4/7), 6-2.

Defending champion Nadal limped out of the tournament on day three in a shock defeat to Mackenzie McDonald and on day four it was another American who ousted Ruud.

The top two seeds are now gone in the first week at Melbourne Park, with Nadal saying on Thursday he will be out for about six to eight weeks with his hip injury.

The 39th-ranked Brooksby, who is on his Australian Open debut, will face Tommy Paul in round three after his fellow American beat Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in five sets.

“First and foremost, Casper is a warrior, I knew it would be a great battle out there,” said Brooksby, 22.

“I’m just really proud of my mental resolve after the third-set battle didn’t go my way, and to turn it around.”