Holger Rune wins epic match against Francisco Cerundolo to reach 2023 French Open quarter-finals

Holger Rune battled injury and inconsistency to beat Francisco Cerundolo 7-6(3) 3-6 6-4 1-6 7-6(10-7) in the fourth round at the French Open.

Cerundolo had progressed in impressive form against Taylor Fritz in the third round on Saturday, but he came into the Monday’s match as the clear underdog.

The 24-year-old reached the final of the Lyon Open in preparation for this tournament last month, and his progress to this stage was his best at a Grand Slam so far in his career.

Rune is only just 20 and ranked No. 6 in the world, was the favourite especially after his routine win over Genaro Alberto Olivieri at the weekend, and has reached two Masters finals already so far this year.

He was in the ascendancy early on, opening with a love hold and then breaking for a 3-1 lead.

But just as the set looked to be heading Rune’s away, Cerundolo won three games in a row to get back on level terms at 5-5.

The set went to a tie-break and Rune took it after winning four points in succession.

But Rune could not carry the momentum into the second set.

In the second game he recovered from 0-40 down – helped by a brilliant low volley – to hold, but was then broken to love in his next service game after back-to-back double faults.

However, Rune was far from at his best at the end of the first set and his struggles were exacerbated when he went 3-1 down after being broken, then slipped to 5-2 down and ceded the second set 6-3 in just 40 minutes.

Rune then continued to build the pressure up for a comeback as he broke his opponent and despite a fightback from the Argentine he took the third set.

The topsy-turvy momentum of the match continued when Cerundolo broke in the first game of the fourth and then continued to dominate as he moved 4-0 up and then won the fourth set 6-1 as Rune may have been looking to conserve energy before the decider, bringing on the doctor in the set.

The fifth set went with serve but Rune – now on 10 double faults after struggling for consistency and nerve – gave his opponent three break points, only to go on to hold and then break to go 5-4 up.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given the nature of the match, Cerundolo broke back after some agonisingly long points and the crowd were treated to a decisive 10-point tie-break.

Cerundolo moved 5-3 clear when on his serve, he missed a low ball and conceded a point and minutes later gave an astonishing forehand return to edge 6-5 ahead, only to send the next one long.

A moment of luck, perhaps intuitive skill, from Rune came as he dug out a ball by his shins with an unplayable dropshot to lead 7-6, the second time he led in the tie-break at that point, and finally he kicked on for victory.

In his on-court interview after his win, Rune reflected on the special nature of the victory and paid tribute to his opponent.

“It’s very [hard to practise for moments like this]. It’s a unique moment to be on this court in front of an incredible crowd,” he said.

“I had a heart-breaking loss in Australia after serving for the match, so I told myself just to relax and play tennis, and enjoy it. Moments like this stay with you forever, no matter whether you win or lose. I enjoyed every moment.

“He’s playing amazing, especially on clay, which suits his game with a big forehand. When he gets the time, we saw when I was closing out the match, he hit two forehand winners. He was just too good then. He’s a very nice guy with a bright future. “

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