Fourth-ranked Ruud loses to qualifier Daniel in Acapulco

For Daniel, the victory was his first against a top-10 player and propelled him into the quarterfinals. The 30-year-old Daniel, ranked 125 in the ATP, had been 0-8 against players ranked in the top 10.

Casper Ruud plays a backhand during the men’s singles round of 16 match against Taro Daniel at the Mexico Open at Arena GNP Seguros on March 01, 2023. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Fourth-ranked Casper Ruud lost to qualifier Taro Daniel 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (5) in a round-of-16 match at the Mexico Open on Wednesday.

For Daniel, the victory was his first against a top-10 player and propelled him into the quarterfinals. The 30-year-old Daniel, ranked 125 in the ATP, had been 0-8 against players ranked in the top 10.

Before beating Ruud, Daniel’s finest victory was over Novak Djokovic at Indian Wells in 2018, when the Serbian was ranked 13th.

Ruud reached No. 2 in the rankings after losing the last U.S. Open final to Carlos Alcaraz. Against Daniel, the Norwegian committed 46 unforced errors and slipped to 3-4 in 2023.

Daniel will try to extend his run of success against Alex De Minaur, who beat Jacopo Berrettini 6-1, 6-0.

In other matches on Wednesday, Frances Tiafoe beat Feliciano Lopez 6-2, 7-6 (6), and will face Taylor Fritz, who defeated Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 6-4.

Also, McKenzie McDonald ousted Brandon Nakashima 6-2, 6-0, and will face off against Tommy Paul, who reached the quarterfinals when Michael Mmoh retired in the second set, and Matteo Berrettini ousted Elias Ymer 6-3, 6-3.