After winning his first Masters 1000 crown in Paris last year, Holger Rune is having another great run at this week’s Monte Carlo Masters. The young Dane scored two wins to enter the semi-final and secure a notable achievement.
Holger is the third teenager in the Monte Carlo semi-final, joining Rafael Nadal and Richard Gasquet! The Spaniard and the Frenchman did that in 2005, and Nadal added another in 2006
. We had to wait 17 years to see another teenager in the semi-final at the season’s first clay-court Masters 1000 event.
Rune faced Dominic Thiem in the second round and earned a dominant 6-2, 6-4 victory in an hour and 35 minutes. Holger defended both break points and kept the pressure on multiple Roland Garros finalist. Thiem lost serve three times, making a slow start and allowing Rune to seal the deal with a single break in set number two.
Rune skipped the third-round clash against Matteo Berrettini, who withdrew due to an injury. The Dane set the quarter-final duel with Daniil Medvedev and beat the tired opponent 6-3, 6-4 in an hour and 17 minutes to enter the last four.
Medvedev stayed on the court for over three hours the previous night and had not much left for the following day. The Dane dropped 14 points in ten service games and got broken once from two chances offered to the Russian.
Medvedev could not match the rival’s pace, losing serve three times to end his run in the quarter-final. Holger tamed his strokes nicely and hit 18 winners and 19 unforced errors. Daniil fired 11 direct points and sprayed 23 mistakes to plague his chances and propel a teenager through.
Holger Rune is the first teenager in the Monte Carlo semi-finalist since 2006.
Rune settled into a fine rhythm behind the initial shot right from the start, delivering one good hold after another and keeping the pressure on the other side.
Daniil netted a tired forehand in the encounter’s fourth game and experienced a break point. He saved it and one more before offering Holger his third break opportunity. A teenager attacked the rival’s serve and fired a forehand crosscourt winner to grab a break and open a 3-1 gap.
Daniil reduced the deficit to 4-2 before Holger painted a backhand down the line winner a few minutes later for 5-2. The Russian extended the set with a hold at love in game eight before the Dane wrapped up the opener with a forced error at 5-3 after 34 minutes.
Medvedev played a wayward backhand in the second set’s third game to lose serve and fall further behind. Rune lost the ground for a bit in game four and missed a volley at the net to drop serve and bring the opponent back to 2-2.
Daniil squandered two game points in game nine and netted a volley on a break point to push Holger 5-4 in front and closer to the finish line. A teenager served for the victory in game ten and created two match points with a fine serve & volley combo.
Rune seized the first with a service winner to seal the deal in style and book a place in the semi-final against Jannik Sinner.
