Seoul | Norrie out sick; Ruud defeated and loses No.2 spot

British No.1 Cameron Norrie pulled out of the Korea Open in Seoul just an hour before he was due on court to face American Jenson Brooksby for a place in the semi-finals of the ATP 250 event

Seeded second Norrie retired from the event with an unexplained sickness after complaining of jet lag following his first match in Seoul, a 6-2 6-2 win over Japan’s Kaichi Uchida

Norrie, world ranked 8, is targeting a place in the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin next month and to ensure he maintains that place is undergoing a heavy schedule of events to boost himself up the rankings.

After Seoul he intends to play in Tokyo next week, before competing in Stockholm, Vienna and Paris.

His main rival for that end-of-season place is America’s Tylor Fritz, who also pulled out of Seoul citing an illness before he played his opener as the third seed.

Brooksby, who defeated Korean No.1 Soonwoo Kwon in straight sets to reach the quarter finals, will now face Denis Shapovalov for a place in the final, the Canadian having easily dispatched Moldova’s Radu Albot 6-2 6-2.

But the big upset of the event was the defeat of the world No.2 who went down to Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, ranked 54th in the world, 6-2 3-6 6-2.

That result will see the Norwegian slip down the rankings by a place as Rafa Nadal leapfrogs him into second behind Carlos Alcaraz at the top which means that, for the first time in ranking history, two Spaniards will be filling the top two places!

Nishioka next faces America’s Lucky Loser Aleksandar Kovacevic who eventually ousted his compatriot Mackenzie McDonald 4-6 6-3 6-2.