Holger Rune faced a tricky opponent in his Paris Masters return, but he proved quite calm in dealing with Dominic Thiem.
Thiem has had some pretty decent wins in recent weeks and proved himself in round one by coming back from a set down to beat Stan Wawrinka. Rune found something at the ATP 500 tournament in Basel last week, winning a couple of matches which were extremely important for him.
He ultimately crashed out before making the final, but it was a big week for him. He's hoping to secure a spot at the ATP Finals in Turin, and a good run in Paris might just do the trick.
The first match for the defending champion started pretty well, as he won his opening service game with ease. Even so, Thiem's aggressive approach earned the Austrian a break point, which he ultimately didn't convert.
Not long after that, Rune broke Thiem to take a 4-3 lead and then held from 0-40 in the next game. The sequence was huge for the rest of the match as it completely swung momentum on the Dane's side.
He would ultimately serve out the opening set and continue applying heavy pressure in the second set. He took an early lead in the second set and then added another one later on to completely assume control of the match.
He would have very few problems serving out the match against Thiem, who never quite recovered from that sequence in the opening set. Rune's level improved as the match went on but the key for him was the serve.
When he faced a 0-40 deficit, he saved the first two break points with aces, and that was crucial. Any time he needed a good serve he found it, and Thiem never found a solution.
The final score was 6-4 6-2 for Rune, who finished with 27 winners and will face Daniel Altmaier in the next round. Now, that's another tricky matchup.
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