The Danish teenager Holger Rune caused a big surprise at the ATP tournament in Munich on Wednesday. The 18-year-old clearly defeated the top seeded local hero Alexander Zverev 6: 3 6: 2 in the round of 16. For the 25-year-old Olympic champion Zverev, it was the next setback on the way to his big goal of becoming number one in the world rankings.
The German had hoped for a turnaround in his previously untitled season in Munich. But against the number 70 in the world, the third in the world rankings, who had a bye in the first round, made too many simple mistakes from the start. In particular, the Dane’s short stop balls repeatedly caused Zverev big problems.
Rune quickly got a break and the 3-0 lead, he won the first set with his sixth set ball. In the second round, the breaks to 1:0 and 4:1 ensured the preliminary decision in the game. After a little over 90 minutes, Rune used his second match point against the German, who had won the tournament twice (2017 and 2018), on the almost full Center Court.
Two days before his 19th birthday, it was Rune’s first win over a top ten player. In the quarter-finals, the Dane meets either the Finns Emil Ruusuvuori (ATP-63rd) or the American Maxime Cressy (ATP-65th).
Zverev describes performance as “bottomless”
Zverev was hard on himself after the defeat. He described his performance as “bottomless”. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for the spectators, I’m sorry for the tournament,” he began the press conference. He described the match as “the worst” in recent years. “I really did my best, even if you didn’t see it on the pitch,” explained the German.
“I played without a forehand today. I would have lost to everyone in the main draw today,” said Zverev helplessly. He was also incredibly nervous before the match: “For the first time in Germany in front of an audience in years,” he regretted the early end of his home tournament.
ATP 250 tournament in Munich
(Germany, 597,900 euros, clay court)
