"Casper Ruud being a top 5 player is the lowest point of ATP history" - Tennis fans pile on Norwegian after brutal Australian Open exit

Tennis fans heavily criticized Casper Ruud after his second-round loss to Jenson Brooksby at the 2023 Australian Open.

The World No. 3, who had a shot at reaching the summit of the rankings at the tournament, lost in the second hurdle to rising star Brooksby in four tight sets 6-3, 7-5, 6-7, 6-2. There were a lot of expectations from the Norwegian as he was seeded second at the first Grand Slam of the year but had to prove his rankings to tennis fans.

His loss did not sit well with fans who took to social media to give their reactions. One fan even said that Ruud being in the Top 5 is an embarrassing moment in ATP rankings history.

"Casper Ruud being a top 5 player is the lowest point of ATP history. A few years down the line every journey man will have a top 5 win because of him," said a fan.

Another fan was in disbelief after Ruud's defeat and pointed out that Djokovic, who was in the bottom half of the draw as well, might just walk away with the title.

"How has Casper Ruud lost that badly man. Might as well give Djokovic the trophy now," another fan tweeted.

Here are some more reactions:

"I felt like I was working my way into the match" - Casper Ruud

Casper Ruud celebrates winning set point against Jenson Brooksby

Casper Ruud mentioned that he believed that he was growing into the match after saving three match points in the third set against Brooksby before eventually losing in four sets.

In his post-match press conference, the second seed analyzed his match and pointed out that it was a tough match for him.

"It was a tough match out there. In the third, I was able to come back from set points down and saved some set points in quite a way. I felt like I was working my way into the match," Ruud said.

The Norwegian lamented the way the match progressed.

"But, you know, I had a poor start in the fourth, and then Jenson, you know, clipped some great returns, you know, clean return winners on my serves. Got a couple of breaks. I couldn't recover from that, unfortunately," he said.

The French Open finalist revealed that he gave it his all in the match but it wasn't enough to change the result.

"I gave it my all, but in the fourth set especially wasn't enough. The first two sets were sort of closer, but I ended up getting broken a bit too many times. So that's something that was maybe the key to part of the reason why I lost today," he added.