Casper Ruud delights fans by speaking in Spanish at Los Cabos Open following title loss to Jordan Thompson

Casper Ruud surprised spectators at Cabo Sports Complex by briefly speaking Spanish in his runner-up speech at the Los Cabos Open. He lost to Australia's Jordan Thompson in the final held on Saturday, February 24.

Ruud consistently trailed in the opening set since Thompson started the proceedings with a gritty hold. The duo remained on serve until the Australian broke Ruud in the sixth game.

The Norwegian worked hard to stage a comeback with his opponent serving at 5-3 as he earned two break points. Thompson, however, saved them all and secured the opening set.

The second set saw a close fight with both players breaking each other twice. Thompson eventually pipped Ruud in the tiebreak and secured the championship 6-3, 7-6(4) after two hours and four minutes.

Ruud ended up receiving the runner-up trophy but made the most of his speech at the presentation ceremony, inviting loud cheers by throwing in some Spanish to the crowd's delight.

The Norwegian recounted playing golf and savoring tacos during the past seven days in Los Cabos.

"Let's try in Spanish. I played a little bit of golf, I really liked it, ate a lot of tacos, during these days in Mexico," Ruud said. (translated via Google)

Ruud's stay in Mexico is far from over as he gears up for the Mexican Open as the sixth seed. He is set to take on Christopher Eubanks in his opener in Acapulco on Monday, February 27.

Further in his speech, he bid adieu to the Los Cabos crowd and hoped some of the fans would join him in Acapulco.

"Ah, what else! Very happy to play in Mexico. See you next year and this next week in Acapulco. Long live Mexico," Casper Ruud added.

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Casper Ruud is undefeated against his first Mexican Open opponent Christopher Eubanks

Christopher Eubanks with Casper Ruud (R)

Between Casper Ruud and Christopher Eubanks, the Norwegian is the favorite to prevail in their first-round duel at the Mexican Open 2024 owing to his 2-0 lead against the latter in terms of head-to-head.

The duo first played against each other in the year 2022 at the Indian Wells Open. Ruud defeated Eubanks 7-6(5), 6-2 in the opening round only to lose to Nick Kyrgios in the second.

Their second meeting materialized at the Shanghai Masters the following year with Casper Ruud securing a 6-4, 6-2 victory in the second round. Once again, however, the Norwegian bowed out of the tournament after suffering an upset loss to Fabian Morazsan in his next match.