Slumping Ruud is out of Miami, Van De Zandschulp through to last 16
Botic van de Zandschulp edged out Casper Ruud 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Monday night and will face Finn Emil Ruusuvuori in the next round
Wins are proving ultra difficult to come by for Norway’s Casper Ruud in 2023. The two-time Grand Slam finalist has struggled out of the gates, and those struggles continued on Sunday night as the No 3 seed was toppled by 26th-seeded Botic Van de Zandschulp, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
The 27-year-old Dutchman earns his first top 5 win, and his fourth top 10 triumph.
Ruud, meanwhile, falls to 5-6 on the season. He has not won consecutive matches on tour this season and has yet to reach a quarter-final. The 2022 Roland-Garros champion will, no doubt, be eager to change the scenery and head to Europe for some time on the red clay.
Van de Zandschulp, ranked No 32, will continue his run in Miami against Finn Emil Ruusuvuori.
The pair have split their two previous meetings.
The Dutchman defeated Australian Alexei Popyrin (4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2) in the previous round of the Miami Open.
During the second round of the Miami Open, Ruud, ranked No 4, won against Belarusian Ilya Ivashka (6-2, 6-3).
Miami Masters, other third-round results (Hard Rock Stadium, hard, USD 8.800.000, most recent results first):
- Lorenzo Sonego vs. Frances Tiafoe
- Alex Molcan vs. Daniil Medvedev
- Christopher Eubanks vs. Gregoire Barrere
- Hubert Hurkacz vs. Adrian Mannarino
- Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Francisco Cerundolo
- Quentin Halys vs. Mackenzie McDonald
- Cristian Garin vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas
- Karen Khachanov vs. Jiri Lehecka
- Jannik Sinner (10) beat Grigor Dimitrov (21): 6-3, 6-4
- Carlos Alcaraz (1) beat Dusan Lajovic: 6-0, 7-6 (5)
- Emil Ruusuvuori beat Taro Daniel (WC): 6-3, 7-6 (3)
- Andrey Rublev (6) beat Miomir Kecmanovic (29): 6-1, 6-2
- Taylor Fritz (9) beat Denis Shapovalov (24): 6-4, 6-4
- Holger Rune (7) beat Diego Schwartzman (31): 6-4, 6-2
- Tommy Paul (16) beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (20): 6-3, 7-5