Ruud with a crazy pickup in the first round of the US Open

In Grand Slam tournaments, the best of five sets is played, and Ruud lost the first two sets against McDonald, the 243-ranked Florida man.

Then the Snarøya boy did something he had never done before in his senior career. He won the next three sets and went from 0-2 to 3-2.

The result was thus 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in favor of the 37th classified Ruud.

Papa Ruud to Casper: – This is the turning point

In an interview with Eurosport after the match, father and coach Christian Ruud was asked what actually happened and what he said to his son, who suddenly woke to life in the middle of the third set.

– I don’t know if you remember a slightly long ball in position 4-3, where Casper runs backwards, hits it between the legs and from the bottom up to win the point. They were both a little tired, and I said “this was the turning point. Now it is turning around. And so he did. I just said “hold on, you’re strong.” There are small margins here in this sport and luckily today he did a bit in Casper’s favor. It’s fun to take him ashore in a Grand Slam tournament.

– It’s a great sport

The sporting director of the tennis association Ø vivos Sørvald was slightly moved in the Eurosport studio after the match.

– Here you have to be mentally strong for a long time, and that was him. It is absolutely amazing what happened here. It is completely raw. It is a great sport. He goes out, lies down, stands and leans over, and throws it that way, Sørvald said.

Also read: Boris Becker warns Norway about too high expectations of Ruud

Now he awaits Emil Ruusuvuori, 92nd seed, in the second round, a player Ruud knows well after training with the Finn during the crown break. Ruusuvuori beat 53rd-ranked Slovenian Aljaz Bedene in five sets.

Blytung begins

Ruud managed to break the opponent’s serve in one game in the first set and led 4-1 on one point. From then on, however, it was only MacKenzie McDonald in the first set.

The American picked up the pace tremendously, winning the next five games and thus clinching the first set 6-4, after breaking Ruud’s serve by two games.

In the second set, only McDonald managed to break the opponent’s serve, and the 25-year-old from Florida also won that set 6-4.

Suddenly loosened

In the third set, something suddenly happened to Ruud, who at the time had the knife on the strip. The winning teams sat down suddenly and McDonald clearly ended up on the defensive. The Norwegian emerged victorious from the set 6-4.

The Norwegian continued the good trend in the fourth set, and as Ruud seemed to gain new strength for each game, McDonald seemed increasingly tired.

The 21-year-old from Snarøya, who is ranked 37th in the world, edged out the American and won the fourth set 6-3.

In the decisive fifth set, McDonald again looked sharper, and both players held their serve through the first four games. In the fifth game, however, Ruud broke and went up to 3-2.

From there, the Norwegian secured three games in a row and therefore 6-2 and advanced.