Holger Rune has become the first Danish man in the Open Era to reach the quarter-finals of the French Open after knocking out last year’s finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas.
19-year-old Rune, who is making only his third appearance in the main draw of a major, capitalizes on some lacklustre shot-making from his opponent to prevail 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, and record his second win over a top 10 player in his career. A stunning achievement for a player who had never won a Grand Slam main draw match until this this event.
“I have an unbelievable feeling right now. I was so nervous at the end but the crowd was amazing for me during the whole match and the whole tournament,” Rune said during his on-court interview.
The teenager is the first male player from his country to reach the last eight of a major since Jan Leschly did so at the 1967 US Championships. Against Tsitsipas, the rising star hit a total of 43 winners against 31 unforced errors. He also broke the world No.4 five times in the match.
“I knew that if I was going to go away from my tactics against a player such as Tsitsipas I was going to lose for sure. So I told myself to keep moving and playing in the tough moments. It worked out so well at the end which has given me a huge confidence boost.” Rune commented.
Taking to the court Tsitsipas found himself instantly locked in a battle with the Dane. A rollercoaster-opener saw both players have their chances with various changes in momentum. The Greek was the first to strike as he worked his way to a 3-1 lead before being pegged back by a relentless Rune. With little disparity between the two, just a couple points provide critical to the outcome of the opener. Tied at 5-5, Rune broke for the first time with the help of a blistering forehand cross-court winner. Granting the teenager a chance to serve the set out. Twice Rune failed to convert a set point before he sealed the lead with a tentative smash at the net.
It is not the first time Tsitsipas has dropped a set at the tournament after having done so in his first two matches. He finally turned his fortunes around towards the end of the second set. The high intensity Rune had demonstrated vanished as the world No.40 hit two questionable drop shots followed by a duo of backhand unforced errors. Gifting Tsitsipas an easy break for 5-3 as he closed out the second frame by winning eight points in a row.
However, Tsitsipas’ revival was short-lived. Six games into the third set an error-stricken service game saw him hit a duo of double faults, as well as a forehand error, to hand the advantage back to Rune who moved ahead to a 4-2 lead. Meanwhile, Rune continued to weather the storm as he sealed the two-set lead by winning a 20-shot rally that concluded with yet another Tsitsipas mistake, this time it was from the backhand side.
Closing in on the surprise victory against his visibly emotionless opponent, Rune powered his way to a double break in the fourth frame to move to a game away from a place in the next round. Serving for the biggest win of his career, nerves started to take their toll as he lost nine points in a row. Despite the blip, he triumph on his first match point opportunity when a Tsitsipas shot landed beyond the baseline.
“It was a tactic to try to play as aggressively as possible because when Stefanos gets the shorter balls he attacks every ball and it’s really tough. So I had to play aggressive, take time away from him and I really liked playing the drop shots,” said Rune.
In the quarter-finals Rune will play Casper Ruud in what will be an all-Scandinavian battle. Something which has never occurred in the quarter-finals of the French Open men’s tournament in the Open Era. Ruud ousted Hubert Hurkacz 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, to continue what is his best-ever run in a Grand Slam.
Rune is the second teenager to reach the last eight of the French Open after Carlos Alcaraz. The last time two teenagers reached that stage of the tournament was back in 1994 when Hendrik Dreekmann and Andrei Medvedev did so.
