Holger Rune started his 2024 Munich Open campaign with a win over Daniel Elahi Galan, which is exactly what the defending champion was looking for.
The first trophy of Rune's career came in Munich two years ago, and since then, he's added another one. He won the ATP 250 event back-to-back in the past two years and hoped to add a third trophy this year, though his garage might not appreciate that, as the winner of the tournament gets a brand-new BMW.
His first match was not complicated because of anything tennis-related, as the tennis side was working really well, but more so due to the weather. How often do you see tennis matches stopped due to snow?
Not often, but this one was stopped because of snow and rain, as much of Europe is experiencing severe cold weather. The Dane, who is used to sudden changes in the weather, played a really strong match, beating the Colombian.
Rune needed only one break in the opening set to win, and he didn't push too hard, either. Galan is a solid player, but the 20-year-old, who enjoys the court in Munich, was clearly better in most of this match.
The serve was a huge weapon for Rune early, as he dropped only one point behind his first serve. He also hit four aces as he steamrolled through his games. The second set opened well for the Danish player, as he took an early 2-0 lead.
He then added another break to make it 4-0. Rune was in total control and cruising through the games. Everything was working, and it's great to see him playing well after finding some good form last week in Monte-Carlo.
From there, it was a rather simple cruise to the finish line as the final score was 6-4, 6-2 for the second seed at the event. Winning is rather important for Rune right now because he slipped out of the Top 10 and will keep sliding due to the amazing first six months of 2024.
If he can survive this slide, he'll get a good chance to rejoin it again in the second half of the 2024 season, as that's the part of the season when he struggled in 2023.