Day five at Roland-Garros brought some edge-of-the-seat second-round action, including No 13 seed Holger Rune getting out of jail against Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli. Check out a full summary of the second round here.
The Dane raced away to a 2-0 set lead on Thursday, before he was pegged back by Cobolli and forced into a fifth set. With the match headed to a deciding tiebreak, it seemed as though Rune’s time in Paris would be cut short.
Needing 10 points to win the match tiebreak, Cobolli was locked in. The young Italian reeled off five straight points, grabbing a commanding 5-0 lead with the finish line in sight.
That is, until Rune did something surprising: switched off his brain.
Rune explains his remarkable tiebreak strategy
Speaking to the media after his match, Rune explained what occurred when he trailed 5-0 in the tiebreak against Cobolli.
“I just switched my brain off a little bit and just tried to go for my shots,” the 21-year-old explained. “Then I got a great contact on one return at 5-0 and gained some confidence.”
Rune went on to win 10 of the next 12 points, claiming the match tiebreak 10-7. He explained that his success was courtesy of a surprising thought, partway through the breaker.
“Actually, all of a sudden, it came into my mind a match when Roger [Federer] played Tennys Sandgren at the Australian Open when he won in a five-set match tiebreak as well, and Sandgren had many chances,” Rune said.
“It was kind of in my mind. I don’t know how it appeared, it just did.
“Roger is always very relaxed when he’s playing. I told myself, ‘OK, let’s try to relax.’ Then I started to hit my shots better, more freedom, got back on track.”
What it means for Rune…
WHAT. IT. MEANS ??#RolandGarros @holgerrune2003 pic.twitter.com/CZaZtNOP9U
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 30, 2024
Draw opens up for Rune in Paris
While Rune managed to escape being upset on Thursday, another seed wasn’t so fortunate.
Karen Khachanov, seeded 18th at Roland-Garros, fell to Slovakian lucky loser Jozef Kovalik. The Russian was up 6-4, 6-4, 4-2, before crumbling and losing the match in five sets.
Kovalik will now face Rune in the third round. The Slovak is ranked No 145 in the world, and had never won a Grand Slam match prior to receiving a lucky loser berth here in Paris. Provided Rune manages to bring a consistent level of tennis against Kovalik, one has to think the Dane has a great shot at making the round of 16.
Do so, and there’s a good chance No 4 seed Alexander Zverev will be lying in wait. Rune owns a 1-0 head-to-head against the German, having thrashed him 6-3, 6-2 in Munich two years ago.
Could we be on the cusp of a career-best Grand Slam run by Rune this week?
If you think so, head over to our betting section, where you can get 26.00 (+2500) odds at most bookies for the No 13 seed to win Roland-Garros.
