Borges is the first Portuguese player to reach the third round of Roland Garros
Nuno Borges just etched his name into Portuguese tennis history. This afternoon, the country’s number one tennis player (41st in the ATP rankings) became the first Portuguese man ever to beat a top-10 player at a Grand Slam, taking down two-time Roland-Garros finalist Casper Ruud in a sensational four-set clash: 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-0.
Not only that, Borges is also the first Portuguese player to reach the third round of Roland-Garros.
Ruud, ranked no.7 in the world, appeared off his game from the third set onwards and received medical treatment before the fourth, after visibly struggling with his movement.
But nothing should take away from Borges’ performance: after a slow start, he took complete control of the match, winning 12 of the last 13 games.
Next up for Borges: a third-round showdown with Alexei Popyrin, the hard-hitting Australian currently ranked No. 25 in the ATP rankings.
Meanwhile, another Portuguese player, Henrique Rocha (200th), is set to face Jakub Mensik (17th) in the second round tomorrow after winning his first Grand Slam match at Roland-Garros on Tuesday, defeating Nikoloz Basilashvili in an epic five-set match.
