The seven-time champion won his first match since undergoing surgery for a torn medial meniscus, an injury that forced him to pull out of Roland Garros ahead of the quarterfinals.

Before each day's play in London, we'll preview three must-see matches.

Alycia Parks and McCartney Kessler also clinched main-draw berths Thursday.

Aleksandar Kovacevic later celebrated his first major main-draw win on Monday in Melbourne.

The top seed bowed out to world No. 249 Vit Kopriva while Ruud, seeded No. 3, surged into a seventh clay-court quarterfinal of 2021.