Holger Rune celebrated a milestone victory in Cincinnati. The young Dane ousted Roman Safiullin 7-5, 7-6 in an hour and 58 minutes in the second round, prevailing and making a winning start.
Holger celebrated his 50th Masters 1000 victory, becoming the fourth player born in 2000 or later to achieve that. Rune joined Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Felix Auger-Aliassime in the exclusive 'Club 50.'
The Dane claimed his first Masters 1000 win in Indian Wells three and a half years ago. He claimed the Paris Masters crown later that season following five straight top-10 triumphs!
Holger was the finalist in Monte Carlo and Rome in the spring of 2023, and his most recent Masters 1000 final came in Indian Wells this March. The youngster will seek his fifth Masters 1000 final in Cincinnati.
The 7th seed had to dig deep in his first test in Ohio. He took six points more than Safiullin and prevailed in the decisive moments to avoid a decider. Rune lost serve two times and provided three return games from five chances.
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They sprayed over 70 unforced errors, and the Dane reduced the number of errors. Holger forged the advantage in service winners but lost in from the baseline. He had the upper hand in the shortest exchanges, and Roman reduced the gap in the mid-range ones.
They traded breaks in the middle of the opening set. The Daneprovided another break in game nine and served for the set at 5-4. Runewasted two set points and lost serve.
However, he kept his composure and closed the opener with another break at 5-5 and a hold in game 12. The second set was much more fluid, with no break chances and 12 comfortable holds.
Rune grabbed two mini-breaks for a 5-2 advantage. Roman erased the deficit with a mini-break in the tenth point, locking the result at 5-5. Still, Holger claimed a decisive point on the return at 6-5, sealing the deal and making a winning start.
