Australian Open: Ruud looking for revenge as he books Purcell clash in second round

Norwegian Casper Ruud, the No 11 seed, advanced to the second round of the Australian Open by winning against Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 at Melbourne Park on Tuesday.

Ruud, a three-time Grand Slam finalist still chasing his first Major title, needed a little over two hours to complete the win and win his opening match in Melbourne for the fourth time in five main draw appearances.

Ruud, ranked No 11, will be looking for revenge as he takes on Australian Max Purcell next. Purcell won the last encounter between the two in Cincinnati in 2023 (Rune has one win over Purcell which came in the qualifying event of the 2018 US Open).

He comes to the net, rushes you and plays very different to what you’re expecting in a way in this modern tennis.

Casper Ruud on his second round opponent Max Purcell

“He’s a tricky player. Obviously I lost to him in Cincinnati. So I have beaten him once before, so we know each other well. We are the same age. We grew up playing juniors, traveling around at the same time, same places,” Ruud said about his next opponent.

Ruud will be better prepared this time around, admitting that Purcell’s big serve caught him off-guard during their last match.

“He’s an interesting play style. He looks quite slim, but he has a huge serve. You wouldn’t think it, but he has a really good serve. He mixes it up really well. That was kind of what caught me a little bit off guard. Last time I played I didn’t remember how good his serve was but certainly do now. Plays well behind it, he comes to the net, rushes you and plays very different to what you’re expecting in a way in this modern tennis. I’m going to try to do my best to get my revenge. He’s going to obviously try to get another win here in Australia. It’s going to be hopefully a good and tough match.”

Melbourne (Grand Slam), other first-round matches (Melbourne Park, hard, USD 58,910,000):

• Jan-Lennard Struff (24) beat Rinky Hijikata: 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (8)
• Felix Auger-Aliassime (27) beat Dominic Thiem: 6-3, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 5-7, 6-3
• Miomir Kecmanovic beat Yosuke Watanuki: 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4
• Hubert Hurkacz (9) beat Omar Jasika (Q): 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-2
• Alex De Minaur (10) beat Milos Raonic: 6-7 (6), 6-3, 2-0 ret.
• Hugo Grenier (Q) beat Alexandre Muller: 2-6, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7)
• Nuno Borges beat Maximilian Marterer: 7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-2
• Ugo Humbert (21) beat David Goffin (Q): 6-2, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3
• Gael Monfils beat Yannick Hanfmann: 6-4, 6-3, 7-5
• Zhizhen Zhang beat Federico Coria: 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5)
• Tomas Martin Etcheverry (30) beat Andy Murray: 6-4, 6-2, 6-2
• Christopher Eubanks beat Taro Daniel: 6-4, 6-2, 6-3
• Aleksandar Kovacevic (Q) beat Alejandro Tabilo: 6-7 (2), 7-6 (7), 1-6, 6-1, 6-3
• Jordan Thompson beat Aleksandar Vukic: 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
• Karen Khachanov (15) beat Daniel Altmaier: 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3)
• Jakub Mensik (Q) beat Denis Shapovalov: 6-3, 7-5, 7-5
• Stefanos Tsitsipas (7) beat Zizou Bergs (LL): 5-7, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3
• Luca Van Assche beat James Duckworth (WC): 6-7 (2), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
• Adrian Mannarino (20) beat Stan Wawrinka: 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-0
• Alexei Popyrin beat Marc Polmans (WC): 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-2
• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (23) beat Constant Lestienne: 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (5)
• Ben Shelton (16) beat Roberto Bautista Agut: 6-2, 7-6 (2), 7-5
• Daniil Medvedev (3) beat Terence Atmane (Q): 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 1-0 ret.
• Emil Ruusuvuori beat Patrick Kypson (WC): 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4)
• Sebastian Korda (29) beat Vit Kopriva (Q): 6-1, 6-4, 2-6, 4-6, 6-2
• Flavio Cobolli (Q) beat Nicolas Jarry (18): 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5
• Lorenzo Musetti (25) beat Benjamin Bonzi: 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-2
• Hugo Gaston (LL) beat Roberto Carballes Baena: 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
• Frances Tiafoe (17) beat Borna Coric: 6-3, 7-6 (7), 2-6, 6-3
• Novak Djokovic (1) beat Dino Prizmic (Q): 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4
• Quentin Halys beat Lloyd Harris (Q): 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (2)
• Daniel Elahi Galan beat Jason Kubler (WC): 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (8)
• Sebastian Baez (26) beat J.J. Wolf: 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 3-0 ret.
• Taylor Fritz (12) beat Facundo Diaz Acosta: 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
• Jesper De Jong (Q) beat Pedro Cachin: 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4
• Christopher O’Connell beat Cristian Garin: 3-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5
• Tomas Machac beat Shintaro Mochizuki (LL): 7-5, 6-1, 7-5
• Andrey Rublev (5) beat Thiago Seyboth Wild: 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (6)
• Fabian Marozsan beat Marin Čilić: 6-1, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5
• Francisco Cerundolo (22) beat Dane Sweeny (Q): 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
• Pavel Kotov beat Arthur Rinderknech: 7-5, 6-1, 6-7 (6), 6-7 (5), 6-3
• Jannik Sinner (4) beat Botic van de Zandschulp: 6-4, 7-5, 6-3
• Matteo Arnaldi beat Adam Walton (WC): 7-6 (5), 6-2, 6-4
• Jaume Munar beat Alexander Shevchenko: 6-3, 6-3, 6-1
• Giulio Zeppieri (Q) beat Dusan Lajovic: 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3)
• Cameron Norrie (19) beat Juan Pablo Varillas: 6-4, 6-4, 6-2
• Jiri Lehecka (32) beat Bernabe Zapata Miralles: 6-3, 6-2, 6-3
• Alex Michelsen beat James McCabe (WC): 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
• Arthur Fils beat Jiri Vesely: 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-3
• Richard Gasquet vs. Carlos Alcaraz
• Alexander Zverev vs. Dominik Koepfer
• Daniel Evans vs. Lorenzo Sonego
• Sebastian Ofner vs. Thanasi Kokkinakis
• Mackenzie McDonald vs. Juncheng Shang
• Alexander Bublik vs. Sumit Nagal
• Tommy Paul vs. Gregoire Barrere
• Holger Rune vs. Yoshihito Nishioka
• Marcos Giron vs. Jack Draper
• Max Purcell vs. Mate Valkusz
• SoonWoo Kwon vs. Lukas Klein
• Grigor Dimitrov vs. Marton Fucsovics
• Laslo Djere vs. Arthur Cazaux
• Roman Safiullin vs. Tallon Griekspoor

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