On Tuesday evening, the unpredictable Holger Rune singularly qualified for the second round of the National Bank Open presented by Rogers in Montréal, disposing of Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain (6-2, 3-6, 6-2).
Rune was supposed to take on Milos Raonic on Centre Court in the evening’s first match, but intense shoulder pain forced the Canadian to withdraw 40 minutes before the start. And so Bautista Agut, who’d just been eliminated in the final round of qualifying, was called up.
Rune came out in full force, firing off an impressive array of shots to unnerve his opponent. Apart from his first serves (25% in the opening set), he was in complete and spectacular control.
But the Dane couldn’t keep up the pace, and his bad habits creeped back in. His slower play and weaker shots prompted recurring unforced errors and let the 37-year-old veteran back in the match. The former World No.4 and Paris Masters 1000 champion was a shadow of his former self.
Still, Rune managed to bounce back and do justice to his tremendous talent by easily winning the third set.
Carreno Busta holds on
In the second round, Holger Rune will face yet another Spaniard when he tussles with Pablo Carreno Busta, who survived his Tuesday evening match against Fabian Marozsan of Hungary. It took the Canadian Open champion over two and a half hours (2:37) to secure the win at the outcome of an intense third-set tiebreak (6-7 (8), 7-6 (6), 6-3).
Nishikori to collide with Tsitsipas
Kei Nishikori, who’s been grasping for wins since 2021, earned a hard-fought victory in the opening round.
READ: Peroni Nastro Azzuro Refresh: Festivities for FAA in Montreal
On Tuesday afternoon, he clawed his way out of trouble and toppled an Alex Michelsen in top form at the outcome of three sets (3-6, 7-5, 6-4). As for Nishikori’s form, we’ll find out more about it in the next round, when the Japanese ace collides with Stefanos Tsitsipas (8) of Greece.
In another day match, Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina ousted Nicolas Jarry of Chile, who ran out of gas in the third set (7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 6-2).
Big names in doubles
While it’s doubtful they’ll go all the way, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev and Ben Shelton all put their weapons to the test in doubles.
The World No.1 and Jack Draper of Great Britain came from behind to dispose of the Belgian team of Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen (16) in a super tiebreak (6-0, 6-7(3), 10-8).
Meanwhile Medvedev and Roman Safiullin eliminated Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands (6-4, 6-3).
And the towering Ben Shelton and his powerful serve worked with Alexander Bublik to secure a 7-6 (6), 2-1 win over Harri Heliovaara of Finland and Henry Patten of Great Britain that ended in a walkover.
Feature photo: Pascal Ratthé
Related news
