2022 BMW Open: Who is 18-year-old star Holger Rune?
World No. 70 Holger Rune stunned the number one seed Alexander Zverev in the round of 16 of the ongoing BMW Open. Rune, 18, dished out a comfortable win over the German, beating the latter in straight sets 6-3, 6-2. He has completed two straight-set wins in the ongoing ATP 250 event. Here are more details regarding the Danish professional tennis player.
Why does this story matter?
Beating the World No. 3, Zverev, is by far the biggest win of Rune's career. Notably, it's his first win over a Top 10 (ATP Rankings) rival of his four attempts to date. The win is even special, given that Zverev has reached the quarters at this event in his last five appearances, winning on two occasions in 2017 and 2018.
Key stats from the match
The match lasted one hour and forty minutes. Rune garnered 70 points in total to Zverev's 54. The Danish player won 62% of his first serve points. He pocketed 46 points of his serves while the number one seed collected only 24. However, Rune could win only 24 receiving points while Zverev claimed 30 of those.
It was a difficult match from the beginning, says Rune
"It was a difficult match from the beginning. He's in the top three in the world and has been playing some unbelievable tennis, especially in the past year winning so many big titles," said Rune in his on-court interview post win over Zverev. Rune thumped Czech's Jiri Lehecka in the round of 32. Rune would face Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori in the quarters on Friday.
Rune has a 11-10 win-loss record in 2022
Excluding qualifiers, Rune has an 11-10 record in 2022 He won the Sanremo Challenger, a part of the 2022 ATP Challenger Tour, earlier this April. He exited in the second rounds of the Open 13 Provence, Indian Wells, Monte-Carlo Masters, and Serbia Open. He was ousted in the first rounds of the Adelaide International 1, Australian Open, Cordoba Open, Argentina Open, and Chile Open.
A look at his career achievements
Rune is the top Danish player in men's singles. As per ATP, he has a 17-23 win-loss career record. He exited in the first round of the US Open in 2021. In 2019, Rune won the French Open at the junior level. Later, he was ousted in the third round at Wimbledon.
