French Open: Holger Rune Emerges From the Dungeons

After busting a two set lead and trailing 0-5 in the super tiebreak the “bad boy” of the tour delves into his talent to survive

Seldom had we seen Holger Rune play such a straightforward and disciplined tennis, as he did tonight in the first set against Flavio Cobolli, one of the emerging Italian young guns. Accurately aggressive, craftily varying his serve, tactically impeccable when steering the rallies toward the Italian’s softest shot, his backhand, Rune secured the earliest break in the first game and was never to drop his lead, pocketing the first set 6-4.

Comolli raised his game in the second set and started hitting winners off his forehand. Yet it wasn’t enough to pose a real threat. The Dane went on harvesting points with his serve, as well as eliciting errors off his opponent’s left wing. Indeed Comolli surrendered the second set with another sprayed backhand.

The May showers of Paris can play many a trick, and after a one-hour interruption it is a transformed and gutsy Flavio Cobolli who emerges from the locker-room. Suddenly he is able to put pressure and move Rune from side to side, entice him forward, then hit past him. He breaks in the third game and holds it tight, saving five break points in the eighth game displaying deft net skills and rushing off to get yet a second break and the set, 6-3.

When Rune broke in the fifth game of the fourth set, the match seemed about to go his way, but Cobolli bounced back immediately, snatching the break back with a forehand winner. Rune’s confidence was cracked, and suddenly started pouring in unforced errors, as it has often happaned throgout this season. He lost service again and Comolli went on to secure a second 63.

The decider cruised along with both players holding serve. Rune earned a break point by lifting a spectacular lob after chasing down a ball which Cobolli had dropped close to the net. The Italian pummelled a forehand down the line to save it and dashed to a 0-40 lead on Rune’s serve in the nineth game. It could have been the turning point of the match, but Rune came up with his very best. Mixing up angled and deep pressuring groundstrokes with sudden variations of pace, throwing in some serve and volley, he ended up holding serve.

In terms of quality the match was on fire. Cobolli was sublimely hitting winners with his backhand as well. He soared to a 5-0 lead in the super tiebreak and seemed unstoppable. Then he served a vicious kick serve out wide. Rune lunged forward and pounced on it, firing a winning backhand return down the line. “Stunning shot, how did he make that?” one could cry from the commentary box. Cobolli still rose to 6-2, but it was a last fling. Suddenly he was missing or overhitting his groundstrokes, while Rune was delivering as metronomically as the early stages of the match. A few minutes and Rune turned it all round with an 8-1 winning streak. 10-7 the final score of a memorable super tiebreak.

Sometimes such wins in the first rounds of majors are the prelude to even greater feats. Will Holger Rune live up to such stories?