The finalist for the 2021 edition of Roland Garros, the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, was eliminated on Monday in the round of 16, struck down by the young Dane, rising tennis star, Holger Rune (7-5, 3-6 , 6-3, 6-4).
We didn’t see him leaving so soon. World number 4, finalist last year Porte d’Auteuil, predatory forehand, the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas had all the assets to aim for the last four of the Roland-Garros table. But the player was swept away, this Monday, from the round of 16, by another tornado, called Holger Rune. The Dane, who has just celebrated his nineteen springs, 40th player in the world, blasted his opponent in 4:06 (7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4). A new nugget has hatched on the clay courts of Auteuil: this is the first time that the young man has reached the quarter-finals of a grand slam.
The Greek appeared in halftone since the start of the Parisian tournament. Already in the first round, he had been down two sets to zero against the Italian Lorenzo Musetti before raising the bar and raising his arms to the sky 3h34 later. In the next round, he fought four sets against a player from qualifying. On Saturday, we thought he was in better shape, walking against his opponent Mikael Ymer. We thought back to his thunderous start to the season on gravel – victory at the Monte-Carlo Masters in particular – and we imagined him already far away, in this lower part of the table where neither Novak Djokovic, nor Rafael Nadal, nor the new Spanish prodigy appear. Carlos Alcaraz. Stefanos Tsitsipas failed to take advantage of a – let’s say it – rather lucky draw.
First Dane in quarter
Holger Rune, cap turned upside down – his trademark – blocked his way, thereby signing his best performance. “It’s incredible ! I was very nervous at the end and the audience was great. I knew that I had to continue to apply my game plan if I wanted to have a chance., exclaimed the young Dane in front of a crowded Central, visibly amazed to discover the new nugget of men’s tennis. He who occupied the 1019th place in the world in 2020, recent winner of the Munich tournament, continues his incredible rise here, and rivals THE competitor of his generation, the famous Carlos Alcaraz.
Holger Rune is the first Dane to reach the quarter-finals at Roland-Garros since the tournament’s inception in 1925. And even the first of his nationality to fight his way to this stage of a Major since Jan Leschly, who was stopped in the semi-finals at the 1967 US Open. Holger Rune will face, this Wednesday, another Scandinavian, the scorer of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Casper Ruud, 8th in the world.