Holger Rune survived a second-round scare Thursday at Roland Garros, where the 13th seed overcame Italian Flavio Cobolli after letting slip a two-sets-to-love lead.
Two-time quarter-finalist Rune’s fierce competitive spirit came alive as he battled to a 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 3-6, 7-6(10-7) victory in front of an energetic Court 14. The Dane dug out of a 0/5 hole in the deciding-set tie-break, tallying seven of the next eight points to pull within reach of his eventual three-hour, 50-minute victory.
“It was extremely tough, and especially I think I played the match with too defensive court position, which gave him big chances to put me under pressure and run a lot,” Rune said. “I didn't make it easy for myself, but again, credit to him. He took his chance. He was hitting the ball full.
“I think it was definitely up there with one of the tougher matches I have played, especially it was long and there were a lot of tense moments in the match.”
Rune, No. 13 in the PIF ATP Rankings, freely swung at returns in the latter stages of the match, including a bruising backhand return winner at 0/5 in the deciding-set tie-break that kickstarted his comeback.
Cobolli will rue his three missed break chances at 4-4, 0/40 in the fifth set that would have allowed the 22-year-old to serve for the biggest win of his career. Yet Rune held his nerve in key moments, sealing his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Cobolli shortly after 11 p.m. local time.
A four-time tour-level titlist, Rune next meets lucky loser Jozef Kovalik, who recovered from two-sets-to-love down to upset 18th seed Karen Khachanov 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. The Slovakian Kovalik is into the third round of a major for the first time. The 31-year-old, who has won two clay-court ATP Challenger Tour titles this season, began the week with an 0-9 match record at Grand Slam level.
Seventh seed Casper Ruud also escaped in five sets, defeating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6(5), 1-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 after four hours and eight minutes. A finalist in Paris the past two years, the Norwegian produced great variety and all-court coverage to book his season-leading 37th match win. Ruud improved to 3-2 against Davidovich Fokina.
This year’s Barcelona and Geneva champion next faces 28th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry, who advanced after Arthur Rinderknech retired with the match on the verge of a fifth set. The Frenchman retired at 6-3, 7-6(8), 1-6, 0-5, sending last year's quarter-finalist through to the third round.
Ruud prevails in Paris 🙌@rolandgarros | #RolandGarros | @CasperRuud98 pic.twitter.com/HRmfvAvCcr
— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 30, 2024
Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis continued the trend of five-set victories Thursday by ousting Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri 1-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-2.
Kokkinakis, 28, was two points from defeat in the fourth-set tie-break before eventually tallying his third comeback from two-sets-to-love down. The Aussie won 76 per cent of his first-serve points, according to Infosys Stats, to reach the Roland Garros third round for the second consecutive year and third time overall. Kokkinakis next faces 12th seed Taylor Fritz.
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