Casper “The Ice Man” Ruud will need all the calm he can muster on Thursday.

The 25-year-old faces Australian Max Purcell in front of a partisan home crowd in the second round of the Australian Open – but fans of UTS already know how good he is under pressure.

In fact, he has the best stats when the heat is on for any player on the UTS Tour in 2023.

Ruud converted 51 per cent of his bonus cards and saved 75 per cent of his opponent’s bonus cards last year – the best figures of anyone in the competition last year.

He even won a match in sudden death – clinging on to defeat Grigor “G-Unit” Dimitrov in round-robin action in Frankfurt after the Bulgarian came back from two quarters down to force a decider.

The Ice Man made his UTS debut in 2023, reaching the semi-finals in London – and headlines the forthcoming UTS Oslo next month.