US Open 2023: China's Zhizhen Zhang creates history by beating fifth seed Casper Ruud in second round

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Zhizhen Zhang on Thursday created history by becoming the first men's singles player from China to beat a top-five player. The World number 67 defeated fifth seed Casper Ruud 4-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-0, 2-6 to advance into the third round of the US Open 2023.

The match which lasted for 3 hours and 19 minutes saw the Chinese win the first game before the Norwegian world number five levelled the score 1-1 with a 7-5 win in the second set.

Zhang took back the lead by dominating the third set and winning it 6-2. However, Casper Ruud got back in the zone once again in the fourth set and won it 6-0. The dominance from the 24-year-old was brutal and he looked set to take the final set to advance into the third round.

Before the start of the set, Zhang left the court for several minutes to take a toilet break and change clothes in a move that clearly disrupted Ruud's momentum.

But 26-year-old Zhang had other plans. After taking a long break before the decider, Zhang returned to break his opponent in the first game of the final set. A frustrated Ruud complained to the chair umpire and accused him of failing to enforce time limits.

"You follow the rules so clearly sometimes and other times you don't give a shit!" - Casper Ruud told umpire Richard Haigh.

In one final blow, Zhang broke Ruud once again in the fifth game to complete the historic win at the Grandstand. Zhang will now face Australian world number 110 Rinky Hijikata in his third round match.

This is the second high-profile exit from the second round of men's singles competition at the US Open 2023. Earlier, world number 128 Dominic Stricker stunned seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in a five-set thriller.