Holger Rune advanced to the third round of the 2023 Monte-Carlo Masters after beating Dominic Thiem.
The 19-year-old Danish prodigy has been making waves on the ATP Tour, and now he showed also his clay court qualities. After a remarkable clay campaign in the previous season, which included his first ATP Tour title in Munich and a Grand Slam quarter-final debut at Roland Garros, Rune has started the 2023 season with an impressive victory over Dominic Thiem at the 2023 Monte-Carlo Masters.
Rune started off strong and never lifted foot of the gas. He hit 40 winners and made only seven unforced errors and never allowed Thiem to think about the win. The young Dane won 6-2, 6-4 in an hour and 36 minutes.
This victory marks Rune's first appearance in the last 16 at the prestigious Monte-Carlo Masters, having been eliminated in earlier rounds by Casper Ruud in the past two editions of the event.
The young Dane will now face either Matteo Berrettini or Francisco Cerundolo, as he aims to secure his second ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final and first since his triumphant run at the Paris Masters last November.
After the match, Rune was happy about his performance but also praised his opponent who knows how it feels to play a major final on clay.
"It's my first match back on clay so there were a few adjustments to make. But I'm all in all happy with how I handled the situation on court. Dominic already played a couple of matches [on clay]. He's a dangerous player. He can hit winners from anywhere in the court so I had to be sharp, move well and play well."
"Of course there were a few moments at the end where I think he had maybe too much time to play. But I think all in all we played on my terms and I'm happy with how I controlled most of the match."
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