Holger Rune played his first match since the Australian Open heartbreak, and he won it by beating Pablo Ruiz Llamas in two sets.
If you're not familiar with the Spanish player, remember his name because we may be hearing it more often in the future, especially during the clay season. He's one of many young Spanish players slowly emerging at the top tennis level, and he certainly proved that he belongs there at the 2024 Montpellier Open.
The Danish player is a known strong indoor player, but he had some trouble against the Spaniard even though he was the first one to break. Rune had a 4-2 lead in the opening set after using a bad service game from the Spaniard, but he lost it not long after that.
After that, we mainly saw a couple of games where neither player was able to create much pressure. Up 6-5 in the set, Rune fought his way to a couple of set points and he would use the eighth one to finally close out the opening set.
Things went a bit easier in the second set because Llamas dropped off a bit, and Rune looked more confident in his game. He took an early break, which is never a bad idea, and the match kind of went by on cruise control after that.
The final score was 7-5, 6-2 for Rune, who put his Australian Open heartbreak behind him with this victory. He's certainly capable of winning this ATP 250 event, but he'll need to play like he did in the second set to get there.
This was a fair challenge from the Spanish talent and a good warm-up for Rune, but things are only going to get tougher after this. Up next for him is Michael Mmoh, who can be a really challenging opponent.
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