Holger Rune pull off a win worth gold against Jannik Sinner after a great start from the Italian. The number 10 in the world ended up withdrawing from the match at the end due to a sprained ankle that left him quite touched. The Dane prevailed in the semi-final of the ATP Sofia 2022 with a score of 5-7, 6-4 and 5-2 in 2 hours and 30 minutes of a battle that left him stretching in his end.
Jannik began the match with a blank game, very focused from the first moments on not giving ground to his rival. He did not want to be less Holger who, although not blank, made his debut on the scoreboard without leaving too many options. While Sinner opted for tough exchanges from the back of the court, Rune showed his best at the net. The Dane saved the first break ball of the match to maintain equality on the scoreboard.
The serve, key for both
Holger also got close to the Italian at times, but Jannik raised his level to avoid dangerous situations. Rune relied on his service to continue adding his games to serve, surviving the pressure of the light until the last instances of the set, where Sinner pressed to force the Dane’s errors. The Italian closed the first set with 5 aces and without giving up any break option.
Rune connects with himself
The start of the second set was similar to the first, where neither of them got much from the return, although Jannik was encouraged to go to the net on occasion. The first to take that step forward was Rune, who was breaking Sinner’s serve to love. Holger increased the intensity of the match while the Italian was left without an answer. The Dane smiled as he put the lead on his side to make it 5-3 on the light. Although Jannik perked up at the end of the set, Rune held on as best he could to send the semifinal to the third set.
With both players already on fire, Holger took the lead at the start of the deciding set. Sinner’s offenses couldn’t handle the Dane, but the Italian was already more relaxed than in the previous set. Rune was not able to widen the gap against a Jannik who, when he wanted to go for more, suffered a sprained ankle. Since then, Sinner was not 100%. Jannik suffered a new break and retired a game before that supposed end of the match.
