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Casper Ruud engaged in a rare display of frustration during his second-round match at the Miami Open, directing a heated tirade towards the chair umpire over the unsatisfactory treatment of players at the tournament.
Following a first-round bye, Ruud took on Luca Van Assche in his opener at the Masters 1000 event. The World No. 8 narrowly edged past the Frenchman to clinch the opening set 7-6(5).
However, Van Assche battled back to win the second set 6-1, forcing a decider. Despite the setback, the Norwegian held his nerve to secure a 7-6(5), 1-6, 6-1 victory and advance to the third round.
The match took an unexpected turn when Casper Ruud confronted the chair umpire over the service standards at the Miami Open. He expressed his discontent with the lack of towels, cold water and inadequate seating for kit changes.
The 25-year-old hit out at the tournament organizers, calling them "too cheap" to prioritize the players' comfort.
"There's been no towels, no cold water, and just a plastic chair to change. This is a joke. And you know why it is, because the tournament is too cheap to put up something good for the players. The players come here every year to play, to put on a show in front of tens of thousands of people and then they treat us like this," he said.
Although the Norwegian acknowledged that this issue did not come under the chair umpire's purview, he tasked the umpire with relaying these concerns to the organizers, lamenting the lack of response to previous complaints.
"Go to trailer for five minutes in a room with nothing and just a plastic chair to change. Maybe they can put some towels, maybe some cold water for the players' comfort. And it's not your fault. I'm just saying how bad it is," Casper Ruud said.
"No, I know you didn't know but I'm telling you now. And you have to take it on today to whoever is charge, Andrea, Massimo, whoever. Because every time the players complain, nothing happens," he added.
Casper Ruud to take on Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in Miami Open 3R
Following his win over Luca Van Assche, Casper Ruud squares off against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round of the Miami Open. Davidovich Fokina claimed a 6-3, 7-5 win over Shang Juncheng to book his place against the seventh seed.
The Spaniard enjoys a 2-1 lead in his head-to-head record against Ruud following a hard-fought 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(4) victory in their most recent encounter at the 2023 Canadian Open.
Should Casper Ruud triumph over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, he will battle it out against Nicolas Jarry or Thiago Seyboth Wild for a place in the quarterfinals of the Masters 1000 event.
