(Madrid) Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi caused a huge upset when he knocked out Norway’s Casper Ruud, the world’s No. 4 player, in the second round of the Madrid Tennis Masters on Friday.
Coming from qualifying and ranked 105th in the world, Arnaldi defeated Ruud in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 to claim the first victory of his career against a top-10 player.
After scoring the decisive point, Arnaldi threw his arms up in the air and punched his stomach while flashing a beaming smile.
As the match went on, Arnaldi had 35 winners and broke his rival’s serve on three occasions.
The 24-year-old Ruud reached the finals of the French Open and the US Open in 2022. However, despite his triumph at the Estoril Open earlier in April, Ruud has struggled at tournaments in greater significance in 2023, including a second-round elimination from the Australian Open last January.
Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, defending champion, will face Emil Ruusuvuori later on Friday.
On the women’s side, world number one Iga Swiatek has to go up against Julia Grabher.
