The Australian Open debutant Jenson Brooksby staged an upset in the second round after beating second seed Casper Ruud to extend his dream debut here on Thursday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
For the second day running at the Australian Open, an unseeded American has bounced a top seed from the men's singles draw. After Mackenzie McDonald's shock win against Rafael Nadal on Wednesday, Jenson Brooksby defeated Ruud 6-3, 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-2 on Thursday to enter the third round.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
With the defeat, Ruud misses out on his chance to leave Melbourne atop the ATP Rankings. Either Novak Djokovic or Stefanos Tsitsipas can claim World No. 1 by winning the Australian Open title, with the injured Carlos Alcaraz set to remain on top with any other outcome.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Next up for Brooksby is countryman Tommy Paul, who booked his third-round place with a 6-2, 2-6, 7-6, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4 win against 30th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Melbourne debutant, Brooksby, was in control throughout the match, with Ruud having to save three match points and battle back from 2-5 in the third set just to extend the contest.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Brooksby scored the biggest win of his career by frustrating the two-time major finalist, using a steady diet of crosscourt backhands to keep him pinned to his weaker corner for much of the three-hour, 55-minute match.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
After the second set, Ruud left the court for a medical timeout. The World No. 3 dug deep to force a fourth set but was outclassed in the decider.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"First and foremost, Casper is a warrior. I knew it would be a great battle out there. I was pretty confident with my level and just wanted to have fun competing out there," Ruud said post-match.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I was just really proud of my mental resolve there after the third-set battle didn't go my way, to just turn it around."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I had to] just keep bringing my level," Brooksby said of his mentality after dropping the third-set tie-break. "I thought I was playing really strong and I just wanted every game to not lose my focus out there."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I was just really proud of my mental resolve there after the third-set battle didn't go my way, to just turn it around."<\/p>\r\n\r\n