Japan Open: Top Seed Casper Ruud Faces Taken Down By Jaume Munar

Norway's top seed Casper Ruud was ousted from the ATP Japan Open in Tokyo on Tuesday after losing in straight sets against Jaume Munar of Spain.

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Ruud reached his second Grand Slam final of the year at the US Open, moving to No. 2 in the world rankings.

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The preceding week in Seoul, Ruud featured in his first ATP competition.

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There was an air of rustiness in his play & a slight loss of rhythm, which was unanticipated given that he had played a match at both the Davis Cup and Laver Cup in the earlier weeks.

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At the Korea Open, after receiving a farewell in the first round, Nicolas Jarry defeated Ruud in three sets.

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After losing in the quarterfinals to Nishioka in Seoul the previous week, he could not advance to the semi-finals for the second consecutive week.

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Munar will next face fellow player Pedro Martinez after losing all three of his previous encounters with Ruud, all of which took place on clay.

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The absence of tournaments on the clay court had added to Munar's plight, whose preferred surface is clay.

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