The 19-year-old Holger Rune has shown his rich potential at Roland Garros, becoming the first Danish player in a Major quarter-final in the Open era. A teenager played only two Major matches ahead of Paris, losing them and improving his tally by a mile after scoring four triumphs at Roland Garros and winning 12 out of 13 sets! The 2019 Roland Garros junior champion was ranked 313th when he reached his first Challenger final on this day a year ago. Making giant steps, Holger will crack the top-30 after Roland Garros regardless of his upcoming result. The Dane ousted the last year’s Roland Garros finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in three hours and one minute to advance into the last eight and continue where he left in Munich and Lyon. Tsitsipas was not at his best in Paris this year, and he could not pass the young gun, who outplayed him in every segment. Holger claimed five points more than Stefanos and fended off five out of eight break points.
Holger Rune is the first Danish player in a Major quarter-final in the Open era.
Rune grabbed five breaks from 11 opportunities and fired 54 winners and 38 unforced errors to control the pace and emerge at the top. The last year’s finalist took an early lead in the opener with a break in game four. Rune pulled it back in the next one and fended off two break chances in game eight to lock the result at 4-4. The Dane fired a forehand crosscourt winner in the 11th game to secure the second break and held after deuce with a smash winner in the next one to take the opener 7-5 in just under an hour. Stefanos raised his level in the second set and saved three break points at 1-1 in his only troubled service game.
The Greek broke in game eight after a backhand error from the youngster and held at love with an ace in the next one to take the set 6-3 and level the overall score. Rune bounced back in the third set and produced five fine holds without facing deuces or break points. He broke Tsitsipas at love in the sixth game to open a 4-2 advantage and build momentum. Holger served for the set at 5-3 and took a 20-stroke exchange to wrap it up and move closer to the finish line. The youngster forged a massive 5-2 advantage in the fourth set with breaks in games five and seven, doing everything right and outplaying the better-ranked opponent. Tsitsipas broke at love in game eight to prolong the battle and created three break chances at 4-5. Rune denied them with winners and seized the first match point to seal the deal and advance into the last eight.