Ruud shock FOR CASPER!

Casper Ruud during his defeat to USA’s Marcos Giron in Tokyo yesterday. Pic/AFP

Norway's Casper Ruud said his trip to Asia was "not what I was really hoping for" after exiting the Japan Open with a second-round defeat to qualifier Marcos Giron on Wednesday.

World No. 8 Ruud, who reached this year's French Open final, lost in the Beijing Open quarter-finals before bowing out in the last 16 of the Shanghai Masters this month. Ruud's Asian swing ended with a 3-6, 4-6 defeat to American World No. 79 Giron in Tokyo, but he tried to stay positive, noting his fall at the first hurdle at last year's tournament.

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Marcos Giron

"I think it went better than last year so what can you say, I played better than last year, for sure," said the tournament's No. 2 seed. "Maybe not what I was really hoping for and kind of what I needed, but there's still a couple of weeks to go and I'll keep my head high and try to fight in the last couple of weeks of the year."

Ruud had to work hard to beat Japan's Yosuke Watanuki in a 7-6 (8/6), 6-3 first-round win on Tuesday night. He said he was "never able to get into a rhythm" against Giron in a match that lasted just 1hr 20min. "I tried to play the same level as I did yesterday [Tuesday] - maybe I wasn't able to, but it's OK, it's not always easy to shift from one day to the other with different opponents," said Ruud. "I wasn't able to be ready enough for his game and counter his game," he added.

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