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World No 4 Casper Ruud admits he is feeling more pressure to do well now that he is an established top-10 player. Ruud, 24, suffered a shock 7-5 2-6 7-6 (5) loss to 125th-ranked Taro Daniel in the Acapulco round-of-16. Ruud, who achieved a career-high ranking of No 2 in 2022, is just 3-4 at the start of the 2023 season and he has had several disappointing losses so far this year.
"It hasn't been the best start to the season, but I have to give all the credit to my rivals. Being in the top 10 generates pressure, something your opponents don't play with, this has happened to me several times. Today I am not disappointed with my level, although I know I could have done better, I hope to be more prepared for the tour in March," Ruud said, per Punto de Break.
How Ruud lost against Daniel?
Ruud got off to a great start against Daniel, claiming an early break for a 3-0 lead. Down by a break, Daniel worked his way back into the first set as he broke Ruud in the fifth and 11th games to overturn the deficit and win the opener.
After losing the first set, Ruud bounced back in the second set as he earned back-to-back breaks in the sixth and eighth games to send the match into a decider. In the third set, no break points were seen until the 12th game - in which Ruud had two break points, which at the same time were two match points.
Unfortunately for Ruud, he wasn't able to convert as Daniel managed to send the set into a tie-break. In the third-set tie-break, Ruud had a 5-4 lead before Daniel won the next three points to complete a shock win over the Norwegian.
For Ruud, it was another disappointing performance. In the Acapulco first round, Ruud just barely managed to scrape past 342nd-ranked Guido Andreozzi 6-4 4-6 7-6 (2). Ruud survived the Andreozzi scare but didn't manage to do so against Daniel.